Wait for the Lord. Behave yourself manfully, and be of good

“Wait for the Lord. Behave yourself manfully, and be of good courage. Do not be faithless, but stay in your place and do not turn back.” Thus spoke Thomas à Kempis, the humble monk and mystic of the fifteenth century, whose Imitation of Christ has nourished souls for centuries. His words are not merely a call to patience but a summons to spiritual endurance—to hold firm when the night is long and the heart grows weary. In these lines breathes the essence of divine steadfastness: to wait, to endure, and to believe even when all seems silent.

The meaning of this sacred counsel is layered with strength and tenderness. “Wait for the Lord,” he says—not in idle stillness, but in faithful readiness. To wait is to trust that time itself is in God’s keeping, that every delay conceals a purpose yet unseen. When he commands, “Behave yourself manfully,” he does not speak of worldly valor but of inner courage—the strength to master fear, temptation, and despair. To live “manfully” is to live nobly, holding fast to one’s duty and faith even when comfort and reason whisper of retreat. For the soul that stays in its place, unwavering, becomes like a mountain before the storm: struck but not broken, shaken but not moved.

The origin of this wisdom lies in the spirit of monastic life, where Thomas à Kempis dwelt in silence and contemplation. He belonged to the Brothers of the Common Life, a community that valued humility, discipline, and inner devotion over worldly greatness. In a world torn by wars and ecclesiastical corruption, he sought peace not through rebellion but through faithful perseverance. His writings were born not of theory but of lived experience: the long hours of prayer, the solitude of obedience, the temptation to doubt the unseen. When he tells us not to “turn back,” it is because he knew the weight of discouragement—the voice that tempts every pilgrim to abandon the path when the goal seems far away.

History itself gives witness to this truth. Think of Joan of Arc, who, like à Kempis, heard the call of God and faced the scorn of men. Though she was young, untrained, and surrounded by those who doubted her, she waited for the Lord. She held her ground with courage, trusting not in her strength but in her mission. When others urged her to recant, she refused to turn back, choosing faith over fear, flame over falsehood. Her steadfastness became her victory, and even in death, her soul blazed with the light of obedience.

To “stay in your place” does not mean stagnation or passivity. It means fidelity—to one’s calling, one’s conscience, one’s appointed duty. There are seasons when movement is not progress but escape, when rest is not weakness but trust. The impatient heart seeks to rush the harvest before it ripens; the faithful heart tills the soil and waits for rain. The one who waits for the Lord knows that every trial refines, every delay purifies, and that faith grows strongest when tested by silence.

To live this teaching, one must cultivate three virtues: patience, courage, and faithfulness. Be patient in waiting, for the divine clock never errs. Be courageous in the face of fear, for adversity is the forge of the soul. Be faithful to your duty, for the smallest act done in steadfast love is worth more than a thousand deeds of restless ambition. When discouragement whispers that the way is too long, remember à Kempis’s counsel: hold your ground, and the dawn will come in its appointed hour.

The lesson, then, is eternal: do not flee from your post in the hour of testing. Wait for the Lord, for He is never late to those who endure. Stand firm in courage, and let not your heart be divided by fear. Do not turn back, for retreat in the path of truth is the beginning of ruin. The ancients knew that the oak grows strong against the wind, not with it. So too, your soul will grow mighty through steadfastness. Trust the waiting. Embrace the trial. Endure as one who believes that God’s silence is not His absence. For in time, He will speak—and to those who have waited faithfully, His word will be not of reproach, but of victory.