Waiting

Waiting seems counter intuitive for most people accustomed to the pace of twenty-first century life.  Yet, it is a profound spiritual discipline containing a command, a promise and a blessing.  While it may sound passive, it is spiritually demanding work requiring courage and endurance. 

Psalm 27:14 instructs “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”  Waiting on God requires a deep reliance on His wisdom, His perfect plan and His patient timing even when circumstances are uncertain.  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”  Proverbs 3:5 

Waiting also redirects your focus onto God and not on the current circumstance or the desired outcome.  Lamentations 3:25 observes “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.”  God Himself waits for the right moment to show His grace.  “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you …. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18   The discipline of waiting cultivates patience and trust in God’s seasons.

He also works powerfully in the waiting itself.  As is common in God’s economy, He provides what is needed to obey.  “… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31   Waiting then becomes a time of renewal and empowerment.

God works on behalf of those who wait in ways that exceed our expectations or imagination.  The second coming of the Lord will usher in such a time.  The entire story of the Bible involves waiting with the culmination of our waiting revealed in Revelation 22:17, 20: “Let the Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come!’  And let the one who hears say ‘Come!’  …  He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon!’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”