Wait. That one words seems to cast out all the patience right out of my body through my toenails! However, waiting is a part of every day life. It seems like every business has an automated phone system these days. Typically you will here a recorded voice that immediately comes on the phone to give you instructions on how to reach your party. And then it happens. You get put on hold. I recently made a call and was told my "wait" time was going to be one hour. Yes, that is correct SIXTY minutes to be put on hold. Now I just used the terms "wait" and "on hold" synonymously, but are they really the same according to our walk with God? Let's find out...
Wait (def.):
I myself am guilty of thinking that sometimes in life I feel put “on hold”. I’ve often felt like a hamster on a wheel running hard but actually getting no where. But as I begin to think about waiting, in general, I began to think that when you wait for something there is an expectation that at the end of your wait you will have what you waited for. For example, a woman who is pregnant with a child will not have that child for 9 months. However, every day that child is being formed and fashioned, new organs developing, eyes, nose, ears, mouth all forming unto the nature of the mother and father. Meanwhile out in the world those parents are waiting to see what their child will look like. They have an expectation that at the end of the pregnancy their waiting will end and they will see their miracle.
I believe that is how it is with God as well. I believe that when we feel we are “on hold”… we think that He has forgotten us. But in all actuality we are waiting. Waiting and being “on hold” are not the same things. “On hold” means to be Delayed; postponed, Into a state of delay or indeterminate suspension. “On hold” means that something has stopped without knowledge that it may begin again. Something has been delayed. But to wait on the Lord, is to have hope, a confident expectation that something IS going to happen. This is the basis of our faith. Faith is the action to EXPECT what we are waiting for-being that which we do not see.
According to commentaries “wait” in the particular passage in Isaiah “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” (Isaiah 40:31) can also be referred to as “hope” or “trust”. In essence these three words are interchangeable here, because they all three rely on the thought that we are expecting God to be true to His word and deliver the promise.
And so in waiting we have a call to action. We are not put on the sidelines to watch life pass us by. So while we are waiting for the job, marriage, children, healing, financial breakthrough, for the salvation of our family, for restoration of our country, for the rapture...;we continue to hope and believe that God is faithful to His promises. The Bible says “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord”. (Psalm 37:23). Steps mean action. A step means your feet are walking towards something. Yes the Bible also tells us when you’ve done all to do stand, but I believe that waiting also implies a knowing rest in God. Because Isaiah tells us if we WAIT upon the Lord we can renew our strength. We need renewed strength in our daily lives. We need that strength through the process of waiting. Through the process of being pregnant with the desire and waiting until the birth delivers the miracle of new life. The miracle of the promise.
The last definition that I found that I thought to be interesting, “wait upon” means to “attend as a servant”. We are the servants of the Lord. We have work to do. So while we are waiting, on whatever it is that God is working through us, we have the ability to serve Him in many capacities-at work, at home, through friends, at church. There are so many people that are hurting and in need that it’s time to get the focus off of ourselves and what we desire, and really show the love of Jesus. The act of selfless love.
I believe that it’s all in how we think about things. If we stay in a negative mindset --that things are never going to happen or that things aren’t looking up--, then we are in the “on hold” mentality. But if you get up and say I am NOT moved by what I see, I know what God says in His Word and He is always faithful to His promises…I am going to move through what I do not see...then we are living in the “waiting” mentality.
Waiting on God is an action. An action to be his servant- to wait upon Him and ask Him, LORD, what can I do for you today, rather than what are you going to do for me? It is also confidently expecting/hoping/trusting that He will deliver, and He always does! So just like the pregnant woman who is waiting for her child, we too can wait to see what miracle God has for us. He is forming and fashioning it right now!
"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." ~Psalm 27:14
Be Encouraged, Be Blessed, Be Active!
Originally written July 27, 2009
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