By Glenn Miller

GOD’S WORD: “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” – Psalm 27:14

While in Stockholm, Sweden several years ago I was invited to tour one of Stockholm’s most revered jewels, The Vasa Museum. The museum only houses one artifact, the wooden ship Vasa, commissioned by Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus. The Vasa was built between 1626 and 1628 in order that she would join the Baltic fleet in the Thirty Years’ War. The problem was that the design was not structurally tested ahead of time and construction was hastily done in order to meet the king’s demands. No one at the time had the courage or political power to suggest to the king that the ship was not seaworthy. The Vasa was built top-heavy and had insufficient ballast. Despite an obvious lack of stability in port, she was allowed to set sail on August 10, 1628 and foundered a few minutes later when she first encountered a wind stronger than a breeze, meeting her final resting place on the bottom of the ocean floor in Stockholm harbor.

By order of the king, no one spoke or mentioned the embarrassing encounter for years. In fact, it wasn’t until 1961 did someone run across a historical document and questioned if the Vasa was perhaps still at the bottom of Stockholm harbor. It was and today, thanks to the chilly waters in Stockholm harbor, The Vasa dwells almost in its entirety in the museum.

Outside of “fear not”, one of the most cited words from God to His children is the word “wait”. But that’s not something that you and I easily do, is it?

 To wait upon God is to trust in His timing and not our own.

 To wait upon God is to submit all our problems to Him.

 To wait upon God is to exhibit hope and joy, knowing that God’s timing is perfect.

And like the king of Sweden, when we force matters into our own timeframe, we often face insecurity and instability. But to “wait upon the Lord”, we patiently await for His guidance and direction.

And in all cases, when we submit our agendas to “waiting upon the Lord”, we discover that it was well worth the wait.