We wait in line at the grocery store, the bank, and the doctor’s office. The line on the Interstate during rush hour is another long wait as we inch toward our destination. We groan as we see the long line in front of us as we turn into our favorite coffee shop and we wander if it is worth the wait. Waiting has become an unpleasant experience in our culture today.
The Admonition to Wait
However, in Kingdom living waiting is an exercise that is encouraged. Yes, even commanded. Let’s think for a minute of God’s creation and how the plant life is surrounded by waiting. The seeds lie under the ground waiting for life to sprout through its outer covering. We wait for that first shoot of green that pops above the soil. As we tend our plants there is a waiting for the buds to appear and then we await for the harvest. In the waiting growth happens. A miracle takes place under the soil as the seed dies and then shoots forth that sign of life.
Similarly, it is the same in our spiritual lives. It is in the waiting that growth happens. In the waiting the miracle begins. The prophet, Hosea, gives us the admonition to wait.
“Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.”
Hosea 12:6
If we are a child of God, we do our best to live with kindness and justice, but oftentimes we skip over the waiting thinking that it is irrelevant in our situation.
Wait Defined
In our spiritual lives waiting is defined an expectant looking up to the Supreme God of Heaven. In fact, the Hebrew word wait is an active participle which has various nuances of meaning. Strong’s Concordance records its meaning as to bind together; to expect: gather(together) look, patiently, tarry, wait for. This means that is a continuous action. It is a positive action. An action that brings about growth and miracles.
As we wait expectantly for God to work there is a binding together of our spirit with God. Growth happens. In addition, our relationship with God deepens. This growth occurs as we learn to trust and wait with an expectant hope that the Supreme God of Heaven works in the daily affairs of our life.
This waiting and growing is to be done continually. It is a constant stretching of our hearts toward God. Certainly, our waiting is to be a continual employment, a daily happening, a perpetual act that produces a closer relationship to God Almighty.
As I researched the Hebrew word qavah translated wait in the King James Version I came across benefits of waiting on God. Psalms 40 is filled with a treasure trove of rewards that come to those who wait, not just a waiting impatiently for our turn, but an active, expectant waiting on God. A waiting that brings us close to the heart of God. He personally becomes involved as we wait.
The Benefits of Waiting
- He inclined unto me. God bows down and draws near to us as we wait.
- He hears my cry. God’s ear is tuned to the cry of the waiting heart.
- He brought me up. As our hearts are turned toward God in repentant waiting, He saves us from the pit of sin.
- He sets my feet upon a rock. When we wait on God we no longer stand on the shifting sands of this world, but he places us on a solid foundation.
- He puts a new song in my mouth. The waiting heart can be filled with praise as we encounter God’s grace and deliverance.
Besides the merits listed in Psalm 40, the Scriptures are sprinkled with the value God places on the one who waits on Him. God is good to them that wait on Him. (Lamentations 3:25) Those that wait on God will not be ashamed. (Psalm 25:3-5) Because we waited we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. (Isaiah 25:9) Moreover, within the daily happenings of waiting we find renewed strength. (Psalm 27: 14; Isaiah 40:31)
It is interesting to note that there are other words that are translated wait that have a different meaning. Such as Psalm 62:5.
“My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.”
Psalm 62:5
This word wait means to be astonished, to stop, to quiet self, silence, stillness. In our waiting we need to have a sense of awe in who we are waiting upon. We must quiet ourselves and still before God so that we can come to know Him.
The Mending Place
Waiting brings restoration. As we actively wait on God and pursue our relationship with Him we will find that we are actually in a mending place. Choose to live well in the daily routines of life and at the workplace. Make the God-honoring choices of mercy and justice as Hosea describes it. In addition, position your heart to wait on God continually. Subsequently, we will find ourselves in a place where God heals wounds and mends brokenness.
To sum it up, as you find yourself in the waiting places of this world, remember that your continual act of waiting on God is a benefit to your life. It is worth the wait. When you expectantly wait on God, He bows down and comes near. He will personally show up in your life.
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