Patience and Strength

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORDnin the land of the living!nWait for the LORD;nbe strong, and let your heart take courage;nwait for the LORD!n(Psalm 27:13-14 ESV)
We live in a culture where everything is given to us instantly and instant pleasure or satisfaction is just a part of life. Patience and endurance are not qualities treasured highly or often displayed. The reality is that in weightlifting and sports in general nothing comes easy or fast. Endurance and patience is just a part of training. Nobody ever has trained for a short amount of time and reached elite levels. It takes consistency, years of hard work, years of discipline, and the courage to trust that the work will pay off.
I was reading this week in Psalm 27 and is reminded of this reality by David. At the end of the Psalm, he speaks of seeing the goodness of the Lord. One of David’s greatest desires was that he might see the goodness of God experiencing His character. David’s desire to see the goodness of the Lord require patience. He finished the song by commanding that we wait for the Lord. One simple command, “wait.”  What’s more is that in the same breath that David tells us to wait he also tells us to have strength and courage. David takes too often contradictory qualities and reminds us that they complement each other. Waiting takes great strength and great courage.
This applies to weightlifting, sports, family, and life. Nobody gets to see their desires realized instantaneously. That’s a myth and a lie pushed on us by culture today.  No athlete becomes the best quickly.  It’s no secret that elite level fitness takes hard work and training for many year.  Furthermore, no student becomes an expert in their field without years of learning and studying.  Expertise takes patients.  There are parents all over the world waiting on the Lord to give them a child.  Their wait takes great strength and courage.  There are multiple circumstances throughout life where patience is required.
Reading David this week was a good reminder that the process by which greatness is achieved is often not the most glorious. Enduring strength cycles and consistently training weaknesses is almost never fun. However with patience the end result is well worth the wait.
My encouragement from this verse is that David did see the goodness of the Lord. His wait was rewarded. No matter what you are waiting for or what you’re desiring remember that nothing good comes easy and nothing good comes quickly. Take courage and be strong trusting that the reward is always worth the wait.