waiting…

There is a word we don’t like to hear. WAITING. Waiting can be very challenging. Whether we are in the slowest checkout line at the grocery store or asking God to answer a prayer, delays are often disappointing, worrisome, and frustrating. I personally don’t know anyone who likes to wait. Do you? (I didn’t think so).

Waiting is hard work and, at times, can even test our faith. It’s especially difficult when there are no guarantees that our waiting will ever end in this lifetime. Desires we long for, prayers we’ve been praying, and news we’re waiting to hear can tempt us to be impatient, discouraged, to worry, and even to wonder if God cares.

I don’t know who may be struggling with this, but I have had my fair share in the waiting season. In fact, I am still in my waiting season.

One of the most important exhortations of the Bible is the call to “wait on the Lord.” Even though God promises us special blessings for waiting, waiting is probably one of the most difficult exhortations of Scripture.

Why is it so hard? Because, we like to take matters into our own hands. Yet, over and over again we are told in Scripture “wait on the Lord.”

Our society has grown accustomed to immediate gratification. Due to modern technology and all our conveniences—telephones, refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, fast foods, airplanes, etc.—we have many things immediately at our fingertips. There shouldn’t be any reason to wait nowadays. But even in our modern age of conveniences, waiting is still a big part of life. When we think of waiting, what exactly comes to mind? Maybe an airport terminal, a doctor’s waiting room, the line at the supermarket, or being stuck in rush hour traffic.

The facts of the matter is, most of us are waiting for something most of the time.

• Maybe you are in a job situation that’s really tough to endure and you are waiting and hoping that conditions will change for the better. 

• Maybe you are without a job and waiting for news on an application. 

• Maybe you are ill (or have a loved one who is) and waiting for your health to improve. 

• Maybe you are on a diet and waiting for your weight to drop a few pounds. (AMEN!)

• Maybe you are single and are waiting for a wife or a husband. 

• Or maybe you are waiting for your spouse or child to become interested in God.

We are ALL waiting for something. We are ALL in some sort fo a waiting season. But despite our impatience and our dislike for it, waiting is a vital element in life. 

Psalms 130:5-8 TPT says,

5This is why I wait upon you, expecting your breakthrough,
for your word brings me hope.

6 I long for you more than any watchman
would long for the morning light.
I will watch and wait for you, O God,
throughout the night.

7 O Israel, keep hoping, keep trusting,
and keep waiting on the Lord,
for he is tenderhearted, kind, and forgiving.
He has a thousand ways to set you free!

8 He himself will redeem you;
he will ransom you from the cruel slavery of your sins!

SO, what does it actually mean to Wait on God?

1. WAITING MEANS HAVING CONFIDENT EXPECTATIONS.

Let’s go back to our scripture, Psalms 130:5-6 :

5This is why I wait upon you, expecting your breakthrough, for your word brings me hope. 6 I long for you more than any watchman would long for the morning light. I will watch and wait for you, O God, throughout the night.

As the watchman waits for the sun because he knows it is reliable, so the Psalmist waits for the Lord even more because he knows the Lord is more reliable than the rising of the sun. In other words, waiting must be fundamentally wrapped up with knowing, trusting, and believing in the Lord, in His character and in His promises.

The ability to wait on the Lord stems from being confident and focused on who God is and in what God is doing. It means confidence in God’s person: confidence in His wisdom, love, timing, understanding of our situation and that of the world. It means knowing and trusting in God’s principles, promises, purposes, and power.

2. WAITING MEANS SEEKING THE LORD.

Lamentations 3:35 NIV says,

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;

How can we trust God at His Word when we don’t pursue Him? How are we suppose to hold on to His promises when we aren’t seeking after Him? When we aren’t receiving answers to our questions- or better yet, our DEMANDS- we retreat to anxiety, fear and anger instead of God’s goodness, kindness and grace. We choose to seek the easiest and quickest solution to our problems, instead of seeking the One who carries all of our problems.

Maybe the real problem isn’t the waiting – it’s what happens in our hearts while we wait. How are you waiting? Are you seeking out your own answers, or seeking out the Lord?

3. WAITING MEANS RESTING IN GOD’S TIMING.

Psalms 37:7 TPT says,

7 Quiet your heart in his presence and pray;
keep hope alive as you long for God to come through for you.

Other versions of this verse say, “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;”. Waiting on the Lord means to be content and patient because we are seeking God and resting in His love and wisdom. God is never early, never late, but always on time. Our timing isn't God's timing. For us, God's timing often feels like a long, desperate delay.

God's perfect timing does two things: 1.) It grows our faith as we are forced to wait and trust in God and 2.) It makes certain that He, and He alone, gets the glory and praise for pulling us through.

No matter how terrible and impossible the situation appears, how awful you feel, or how there appears to be no answer, no help, no hope, God will see you through because He and He alone has the final say.

Sometimes we put periods in our lives where God tends to put commas. We think it's over, period: Our marriages, our families, our jobs, our health, our futures. BUT GOD puts a comma in those places because it's not over until He says it's over.

In John 11, we read about the story of Lazarus. Lazarus was a friend of Jesus that was critically ill. Astonishingly enough, Jesus doesn't run to heal him, but stays for two days before leaving. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, which is where Lazarus and his two sisters (Mary & Martha) lives, He learns that Lazarus died four days earlier.

Lazarus was dead and decaying for four days in that tomb. That's more than a period, that's an exclamation mark! But it wasn't over. God put a comma in that place, and Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Everything was restored and he was made new again.

Jesus wants to take what has died in you and raise it from the dead! He will see us through every crisis, not just barely surviving, but victorious.

Stop putting periods where God puts commas.

What are you waiting for today? Maybe you have been in the waiting season for a long time now. Maybe your expectation is running thin or your hope is drying up… Hang in there! God is working in your waiting. And His timing is ultimately better in the long run.

Give Him time to bless you with your Isaac instead of you rushing to produce your Ishmael.

Maybe He is trying to mature you for the divine promise and purpose He has for you life.

While you are waiting don’t forget : to have expectation, seek after God, and rest in His timing.

You can do this! You’re not alone!