Waiting on the Lord

Hosea 12:4-6: " He (Jacob) struggled with the angel and overcame him; he wept and begged for his (God's) favor. He found him at Bethel and talked with him there-the Lord God Almighty, the Lord is his name of renown! But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always."


We are so apt to rush ahead of the Lord to do that which we desire, even justifying such behavior as doing what we think God is "telling" us to do. Many times in our impatience, we will spiritually defend our chosen action by exclaiming that God is "commanding" us to do something, but in reality is it not a word from the Lord. Instead, it is a word of justification for our behavior. Even in today's vernacular, we have toned down such actions that are in direct contradiction to the Lord's will for our lives. Some, for example, would label this disposition as a pursuit for "self-actualization" or "self-fulfillment"; nevertheless, this path of personal choosing is called sinful rebellion against the Lord.

When we lose sight of the Lord by following our selfish paths of personal fulfillment, we get ourselves into a lot of trouble. This was the problem with the Israelites during the era of Hosea the prophet. Their quest for personal satisfaction (i.e. their consumption with their own wanton lusts) drove them far from the Lord of Hosts. God in return responded with a calling for them to return to Him so that they could experience the blessedness of intimacy with Him again. Tragically, they would not heed His beckoning, and would suffer greatly for their defiance.



Within the context of the book of Hosea, the prophet illustrates the alternate path to the disobedience of the Israelites by recalling their forefather, Jacob, and his pursuit of the Lord Almighty. Specifically, the prophet shared the story of Jacob's wrestling with God at Peniel (see Genesis 32) to receive the blessing of the Lord (a blessing which would be later confirmed at Bethel). As one looks back at the Genesis account, one will find fascinating the persistence and the longevity of the struggle that the patriarch had for the blessing of God. Irrespective of the challenges which he faced (e.g. his brother Esau's vehement hatred) as well as the delay of God in fulfilling His covenant of the Promised Land for Jacob and his descendants (20 years in fact), Jacob still was determined to pursue the Lord intimately and be blessed by Him. The Hosea passage comments that Jacob "wept and begged" for hours for the favor of God. He was willing to set aside everything that would distract him from a passionate pursuit of the Lord. Jacob was focused and determined in his resolve, for He knew the blessed privilege of receiving such a gift from the Lord. Whereas the more expected response would have been a man despondent for the years of silence of the Lord, Jacob did not permit difficulties or time delays to impede his quest. When Jacob encountered the Lord at the River Jabbok, east of the Jordan, he latched onto the Lord until the blessing was given. The patriarch was persistent for God to bestow what He had promised.





We should be encouraged from these passages to wait on the Lord by being obedient to Him irrespective of the circumstances that we might encounter. As Jacob waited for decades to see the promises fulfilled, so too we may have to wait on the Lord to see His hand of blessing befall us. We must not become discouraged by our dismal circumstances, nor are we to capitulate to irrational conclusions that God will not follow through His his assurances to us. We must fight the temptations to reassert our own will over the One True God and even attempt to justify such behavior by spritualizing it. Such sinful, selfish pursuits will thwart God's ability to shower upon us His promised blessings of joy, peace, and contentment.