Waiting on the Lord

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage,

 and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

I’ve been doing a lot of waiting on the Lord lately. But that’s okay, because God’s Word is full of commands to wait on the Lord. To rest. To be still. To wait.

As I have said many times before, I am not naturally patient. I don’t like to wait. I can be antsy and restless, anxious and agitated. But the Bible continually tells us to wait.

What does this waiting on the Lord look like? How do we wait? Why do we have to wait? These are questions I ask myself. When I know that what I want to do is perfectly in God’s will, but He is not giving me the go ahead, then I begin to doubt whether I have it right. Am I really in the will of God?

The way we wait is often impatient. Nervous. Complaining. Questioning. Frustrated. Irritated.

But, there’s a little word called ‘timing’. God’s perfect timing. Yes, God works on a different time schedule than us. I mean, He created time, so He knows what He’s doing.

Waiting on God does not mean doing nothing.  It’s more of an active stillness. We are to keep busy serving, being productive in the work of the Lord, while we wait on His clear direction. If we’re wise enough to wait on Him, we will accomplish what God has for us to do, when He wants us to do it. God’s timing is perfect.

Only God knows the dangers that lie ahead. The blessings He has in store for us. He knows when we are ready. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. The waiting has a purpose. Although we may not see it, the purpose is there and God is in the wait.

Isaiah 64:4

 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard,

 nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen,

 O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.

In this verse in Isaiah, we read that since the beginning of time, men have not heard or seen or even perceived what God has in store for them. We can’t even begin to see into the future and what God has planned. I know that if we could, we would be all the more impatient and maybe also more determined to try and change God’s plans.

Lamentations 3:24-26

The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

I like that in Lamentations, God tells us that the Lord is good to those who wait. It is good to hope and quietly wait. There is blessing for those who wait.

And so, we wait. Or do we? It’s so easy for us to want to jump ahead of God. We are sure we know the way to go and what He wants us to do and so we jump in with both feet, only to realise that we are in sinking sand because we are not in God’s timing. We did not wait on His timing.

Many times I have been sure of God’s direction, but have been held back by His timing. I know I’m in the will of God, but He has not said, “Go”. He was telling me to stand still and wait. “Not now, dear child. Wait on me. There is more growing you need to do. More teaching you need to heed to. More obstacles to be removed first.”

And in my foolishness, I have jumped ahead and pushed that slowly opening door wide open, slamming it against the wall and charged like a bull at a gate, out into my great endeavour, only to fail and fall flat on my face! Why? Timing. Always timing. Sigh.  I see the door open, just a crack, and my impatience gets the better of me, and blindly, I rush in.

But, God is showing me from His Word, and teaching me to wait on Him. Although that door may be showing a glimmer of light, it does not necessarily mean that it’s ready to be gone through.

God has reasons for our waiting. He wants us to receive clear direction. He wants us to keep in step with His excellent timing. He wants to strengthen our faith. He wants to bring us to see His viewpoint. He often wants to sift our motives for our desires. He wants to see where our hearts lie. What pride lies deep within us. Why we want to do what we want to do. Often, our motives are wrong.

Sometimes it’s the praise of men. You don’t have to look very far around this world, to see that we have become a world of men pleasers. We want praise. We want adulation. Admiration. Devotion. Why do you think there’s such a focus on “likes” on social media? Because people want to know that everyone is for them. That what they offer is popular or noteworthy.

If we are desiring to do something, albeit Godly, with the wrong motives, then God will not bless our endeavour. He sees our hearts. And sometimes He makes us wait, if only to let us see the selfish pride that lies in our hearts and give us time to repent and turn back to Him.

I know that sometimes I fear losing that great opportunity if I don’t take it right then, with both hands and run with it. What if someone else does it? What if the great door closes before I reach it? We need to be reminded, that if God has put our name on a particular job or calling, then we don’t have to fear losing it. God will give it to us in His timing. It will still be there, and the opportunity not lost if we wait on Him.

So many things in life require waiting. And yet, the world is constantly inventing new things that save time. That bring instant gratification. We are an impatient lot!

The Christian needs to learn to wait. Waiting on the Lord brings blessing. God is not in a hurry. He knows the end of the story. He knows how much time you have on this earth. He knows how much time you’ll have and how much time you’ll need to do the job He is calling you to do.

So, back to the practical stuff. How do we wait?

 I recently heard a sermon on this subject and on how we are to wait for God. There are so many verses on waiting in the Bible and in doing my own study on waiting, I am even more convinced that God commands us to wait and the importance of building the character trait of waiting into our lives.

Some ways I’ve found in God’s Word that show us how to wait are:

Patiently

Psalm 37:7a

 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him:

Quietly

Lamentations 3:26

It is good that a man should both hope and

quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Trusting

Psalm 37:5

 Commit thy way unto the LORD;

 trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Expectantly

Psalm 27:13

 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the

 goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

Courageously

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage,

 and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

We are not to fret. We are not to be anxious and impatient. God wants us to stand still and wait on Him. Wait for Him to move us in His timing.

Often, God needs to move things around a little. Prepare people’s hearts. Uncover the pride. Calm the chaos. See repentance, before He can move. Our job is to wait on Him.

Oh, that we can say with the Psalmist,

Psalm 130:5-6

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait,

 and in his word do I hope.

 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they

 that watch for the morning:

 I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

Oh, that I would have such patience to wait. Lord, work in me a patient spirit. A heart that waits. A contentment in the pauses you send in my life. Grant me your peace as I wait on you. A satisfied calmness. An active stillness.

Isaiah 40:31

 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;

 they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run,

 and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Wait

By Russell Kelfer, copyright 1995

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.

Quietly, patiently, lovingly, He replied.

I pleaded, and I wept for a clue to my fate,

And the Master so gently said, “Child, you must wait.”

“Wait? Your say wait??” my indignant reply.

“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why.

Is your hand shortened?  Or have you not heard?

By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming your Word.

“My future, and all to which I can relate

Hangs in the balance, and you tell me ‘wait’?

I’m needing a ‘yes’, a go-ahead sign,

Or even a ‘no’, to which I can resign.

“And Lord, you have promised that if we believe,

We need but ask, and we shall receive.

And Lord I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:

“I’m weary of asking: I need a reply!”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate

As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”

So I slumped in my chair; defeated and taut

And grumbled to God; “So I’m waiting, for what?”

He seemed then to kneel and His eyes met with mine

And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.

I could shake the heavens, darken the sun,

Raise the dead, cause the mountains to run.

“All you see I could give, and pleased you would be.

You would have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.

You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;

You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

“You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair;

You’d not learn to trust, just by knowing I’m there.

You’d not know the joy of resting in Me,

When darkness and silence was all you could see.

“You would never experience that fullness of love

As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.

You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,

But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

“The glow of My comfort late in the night;

The faith that I give when you walk without sight;

The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask

From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

“And you never would know, should your pain quickly flee,

What it means that ‘My grace is sufficient for thee.’

Yes, your dreams for that loved one o’ernight could come true,

But the loss! if you lost what I’m doing in you!

“So be silent, my child, and in time you will see

That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.

And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,

My most precious answer of all….is still…wait.”

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