WAIT, AND MURMUR NOT

[Pastor Bayo Afolaranmi]

Dearly Beloved,

WAIT, AND MURMUR NOT

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord" (Psalm 27:14 NIV).

Little is known historically about the hymn "WAIT, AND MURMUR NOT" and its writer, W.H. Bellamy. However, the hymn is one of the comforting hymns for anyone who is passing through a difficult time. The writer referred to such a person as the "troubled heart" and reminded him that there is a home beyond the reach of toil and care where changes never come. Apostle Paul explained further about this home as "a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands" which is devoid of any groan (2 Corinthians 5:1ff NIV). The home is an "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you" (1 Peter 1:4 NIV). Who would not want to go and rest there? Therefore, the trouble heart should wait and murmur not!

Even though God may allow one to be bowed down beneath the earthly load, because "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV). Therefore, one should still look up to the blessings above and meekly wait and murmur not.

One may have some worldly thorns in one's path like Paul who had an undisclosed "thorn in his flesh" (see 2 Corinthians 12:7). This should remind one of Jesus Christ who bore thorns on His brow. Even if your heart is full of grief, Remember that Jesus Christ was described as "a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering" (Isaiah 53:3 NIV), and He did suffer when He was on earth, but He triumphed over His grief and suffering (see Revelation 5:5).

Are you a "troubled heart"? What are you passing through that is making you to lose hope? I join W.H. Bellamy as he concluded his hymn by encouraging you that you should toil on without thinking that your sigh is unheard or your prayers are forgotten, because the day of rest will dawn for us. The psalmist declared, "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13 NIV). So, "Wait, meekly wait, and murmur not."

In His service,

Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).