Waiting on the Lord

One of my favourite episodes in the New Testament is when Peter and John come upon a lame beggar who’s been sitting at the gate of the temple (called Beautiful – such a name!) daily for many years, begging from those who entered.

The lame beggar was over 40 years old and had spent his entire life in a seemingly never-ending state of wanting and waiting, for he was dependent on the generosity of others.

One day he saw “Peter and John about to go into the temple [and] asked an alms.

“And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

“And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

“And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

“And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”

Amy Wright, Primary General Presidency Second Counsellor, in April 2022 General Conference, and Acts 3:3-8

I love that moment when Peter and John see him, and offering what they have – what is more than the man ever considered in his years of begging – give him healing, instead of just more money that will not change his lot.

Oftentimes we can find ourselves, like the lame beggar at the gate of the temple, patiently—or sometimes impatiently—“wait[ing] upon the Lord.” Waiting to be healed physically or emotionally. Waiting for answers that penetrate the deepest part of our hearts. Waiting for a miracle.

Amy Wright, April 2022 General Conference

Our waiting is hard. It sometimes feels desperate, unending and unchangeable. It’s easy to lose hope while we ‘wait’, to ask Why?. It feels like a wrong thing; a thing that shouldn’t be.

But Isaiah shares God’s promise to those who wait upon Him in mortality:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 (In the French OT translation, ‘they that wait upon the Lord’ is given as ‘those who put their trust in the Lord’.)

We will not always wait. We will, at the end, be renewed in strength (and throughout), be lifted up as though flying like eagles, and manage to do every thing we need to do. We will have answers, completion, joy, and gladness. We will know and see. Our waiting will be over.

Exercising faith in Christ means trusting not only in God’s will but also in His timing. For He knows exactly what we need and precisely when we need it. When we submit to the will of the Lord, we will ultimately receive substantially more than that which we had desired.

… I testify that there is nothing in your life that is broken that is beyond the curative, redeeming, and enabling power of Jesus Christ.

Sister Wright