Waiting Upon God 等候耶和华
Author: Rev Ng Eng Keng
Translated by: Ps Andrew Xu
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”
Waiting is not an easy thing to do, waiting sometimes will cause us to think that God is not listening or cares about our cries to Him! But in our journey of following the Lord, “waiting” is an integral part of our spiritual growth.
Waiting allows the Christian to stop and rest, to put down the busyness of ministry and to have the chance to “reflect” and “seek” God’s will. In our reflection, we will notice our inadequacies and need for correction. We will also have ample time to come before God in earnest prayer to seek His guidance for us!
From this verse, we also learn to have a heart that is “strong” and “courageous” when we come before the Lord. It is when we have these important qualities that we can persevere in “waiting”. Just as what Moses counselled Joshua in front of the people of Israel before Joshua led them into the promised land. “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it.” (Deuteronomy 31:7)
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we learn the lesson of “waiting”. There are many ministries in church that are affected by the pandemic and that required us to adjust and for some ministries even stop. From the surface, it might look like it is a negative influence to church growth. But if we allow ourselves to quieten down and reflect, we will realize that God is transforming us and the church through the circumstances.
From June onwards the pastors and leaders of the church had more time to wait upon and spiritually inspect the ministries of the church. God also used this time to remind us once again the vision of the church, that is to “be a disciple-making church among our communities”. So that, we will be able to move toward the vision in a more concrete way in our pastoral care and ministries. Dear brothers and sisters, let us prepare ourselves, so that we can all become Christ-like disciples.
文:黄永庆牧师
“你要等候耶和华，要刚强，要坚定你的心，要等候耶和华。”
“等候”是一件不容易的事、“等候”有时也会让我们误以为神不看顾或不垂听我们的呼求！但在我们跟随主的过程，“等候”却是我们生命成长必经之路。
“等候”让基督徒有机会停下脚步、放下忙碌的服事，并重新有“反省”与“寻求”的机会。在反省中，让我们看到自己哪里做得不足，需要修整。也同时让我们有更充裕的时间，来到神面前，祷告寻求祂的指引！
从这一节经文，让我们学习到等候神的同时，也必需具有“刚强”与“坚定”的心志。因为这是让我们能够持续“等候”，必需具备的生命素质。就如摩西吩咐约书亚带领以色列民进入应许地时，他在众人面前劝诫约书亚说：「你要坚强勇敢，因为你要和这人民一同进入耶和华向他们的列祖起誓，应许要赐给他们的地，你也要使他们得着那地为业。」（申31:7）
因着这次的疫情，让我学习到“等候”的功课。教会许多的事工，因着疫情的缘故，必需调整，甚至需要停止。表面看来，它对教会的发展似乎起着负面的影响。但当我们静下来思想的时候，确实发现，这是神要调整我、整顿教会的时候。
自6月开始，牧者与领袖们都用更多的时间在安静等候与检讨教会的事工。神也在这一段时间，再一次的提醒我们需要把教会的异象，即“活在人群中的门徒教会”，更具体的落实在教会的牧养与事工中。亲爱的弟兄姐妹们，让我们预备自己，好让我们都能够成为有“耶稣样式”的门徒！