In the Closet

Below is an excerpt taken from a little booklet titled Helps to Holiness. Such a great teaching tonight by the author, S.L. Brengle, about waiting on the Lord.

Here I sit trying to honor our President’s request that we stay in so we can “flatten the curve” of the spread of this coronavirus. Here in the confines of my home though I am not alone… it is truly in this special place (my little prayer closet) that it is just me and God. There is no one to draw from, no one to compete with, no one for me to distract or to be distracted by. And still, even here, with God as my only companion and source, it is so hard to wait on Him.

But this was encouraging to me and made me search my heart.

David said, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him.” (Ps. 62:5); and again he declares: “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in His name do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning” (Ps. 130:5); and he sends out this ringing exhortation and note of encouragement to you and me: “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Ps. 27:14).

The secret of all failures, and of all true success, is hidden in the attitude of the soul in its private walk with God. The man who courageously waits on God is bound to succeed. He cannot fail. To other men he may appear for the present to fail, but in the end they will see what he knew all the time: that God was with him, making him, in spite of all appearances, “a prosperous man.”

Jesus puts the secret into these words: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:6).

Know, then, that all failure has its beginning in the closet, in neglecting to wait on God until filled with wisdom, clothed with power, and all on fire with love.

~ S.L. Brengle, Helps to Holiness

What does it mean to wait?

Wait – to remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens; to remain neglected for a time; to be postponed or delayed; to be available or in readiness.

Looking at those definitions, I can easily find the reasons I have such a hard time. Over the last years, I have become a person that loves to do and to go. We can fill our lives with many things. Even very good things things can become a hinderance when we allow them to keep our bodies and our minds occupied at all times. The first day I deliberately stayed home, all I wanted to do was go, go, go though I had no where to go and needed nothing. Obviously I don’t like “remaining neglected” for any amount of time. Does anyone?

So how then do we wait?

By God’s grace and by making a deliberate decision to press in to the waiting.

I have to get in the posture and attitude of waiting. Oh yes, it will be so much easier to move on toward the next sight or sound in the adjacent room. It will be easy to jump on Facebook or Twitter and lose an hour or two there…but the moment I give in, I know I will begin that same old descent that leads to discouragement.

What will be the benefits of waiting?

WISDOM, POWER, FIRE with LOVE!

Give me the grace to wait upon You, Lord…in Jesus Name. Amen!