Television news often features segments at the nation’s largest airports—usually based around flight delays or cancellations. When the reporters interview travelers, they are often impatient or disgruntled. No one likes their plans to be delayed, much less canceled.

Delays happen all the time in our lives. We do our best to manage them with a measure of grace. What is harder is when we find ourselves in situations where we feel we have been wronged in some way and we ask God to intervene on our behalf. That was the motivation behind David writing Psalm 37—the contrast between the righteous who suffer at the hands of the wicked and the wicked themselves. David’s counsel to the righteous is not just to wait for the Lord to act but to wait “patiently.” If we are waiting patiently, we will not be angry or anxious. Instead, we will wait actively in prayer and in pursuit of acts of righteousness.

If your plans have been delayed or changed for whatever reason, do not fret. Instead, let your waiting be a time of seeking God’s will and finding joy in it.

Faith is not idle; it works while it waits.
Ronald Dunn