Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! (Ps. 27:14)
My Bible has a note that says wait in faith; “In the midst of present trouble, do not give up; give God time to answer.”
Waiting is a spiritual discipline. We pray, we lay out our requests, we ask for deliverance, and then we wait. And wait. And wait. To wait means to stay put, to look forward with a definite end or purpose in mind. We keep it in the forefront of our mind. We don’t forget and we don’t change the subject.
Waiting is not something that the flesh does easily. We want to see it now. We want quick answers and instant results so we can move on. But the Scripture is full of verses about waiting. And waiting some more.
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Ps. 37:7).
“And I will wait on the Lord, who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will hope in Him” (Isaiah 8:17).
“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
Matthew Henry says, “They shall press forward, forward towards heaven. They shall walk, they shall run, the way of God’s commandments, cheerfully and with alacrity (they shall not be weary), constantly and with perseverance (they shall not faint); and therefore in due season they shall reap.”
“I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry” (Ps. 40:1).
“It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lam. 3:26).
Just from these few verses we can see that we must rest as we wait, hope while we wait, be quiet while we wait, and wait patiently. How many of us are good at waiting? How many of us wait quietly, patiently, and hopefully? Or are we tapping our foot, watching the clock (or the calendar), and grumbling about how long this is taking?
Waiting on the Lord bears good fruit in us. Waiting results in renewal and fresh strength. Faithful waiting is watching expectantly, looking for the Lord to come with His answer any minute. Faithful watching keeps on waiting, knowing that the waiting on the Lord is a good thing in itself. And waiting for the Lord is a means of getting His attention.
“I’m still here Lord. I’m still asking, watching, waiting patiently for You to act.”
When we start to give up waiting, our hearts get hard. We become weak and weary. But the act of waiting in faith strengthens our faith. Then we can say with confidence, “Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me” (Micah 7:7).
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Beautiful scriptures. Thank you so much.
I find myself often thinking this way regarding my children. I am teaching them every day, as much as I can to prepare them for the days which God has ahead of them. From the little things, like chewing with their mouths closed. :). To things like never giving in to despair when God hands trials to them. Trust Him. Wait for Him.
And for me, a good deal of the fruit He will bring in their lives is something I need to wait for, too.
Waiting with trust, hope, joy!
Thank you for the sweet encouragement.
Thanking you and thanking God for such a well-timed post. Baby #3 is due this weekend and I’m already struggling with the waiting.
I’ll be printing and displaying these verses for however-many days to come 🙂
Nancy, thank you SO much for this! Timely.
Thank you for this! We are currently *waiting* on #4 – via adoption. The waiting for adoption is so much harder! You have no “due date” – so it seems like the waiting could go on forever. I have been reading those passages from scripture that you shared this past month. Thank you for the sweet reminder that waiting is really doing something! The Lord has already taught me so much about Himself through this season of waiting.
I listened to the story of Joseph this morning, and was struck by all of the waiting there. Waiting in a pit while your brothers debate whether to murder you or sell you. Waiting in slavery, and being remarkably faithful in that affliction — both to your master and to God. Waiting in a dungeon, again with such faithfulness that your keepers trust you. Waiting for death as your only hope to see again the beloved son you thought was dead. And then…freedom, honor, restored hope, forgiveness, reunion, salvation. All of the waiting takes place in a verse or two here and there that sweeps across years. “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.” The suffering of every hard providence (whether or not someone meant evil by causing it), God means for good, and the joy that comes afterward swallows it all up.
I think it’s great you write. It helps a lot. When you need to read that god has you in his hands.
Waiting is never easy! Yet as you say, it can bear good fruit in us! Thank you! I was reflecting on “waiting” at Easter this year, thinking about how all that waiting going on in the Easter Story could teach me a few things! http://themongers.blogspot.com/2014/04/waiting.html
I am so thankful for this post this morning. I am the mother of a prodigal daughter and sometimes I want to throw in the towel on this whole waiting thing, when God so sweetly reminds me that he has it all under control.