What Does It Mean to Wait?

Something that keeps resurfacing for me over recent weeks has been the topic of waiting on the Lord. There are many biblical examples of people who truly waited for God, waited to hear His undeniable voice speak to them, in obedience, faith and love. The believers waited together on the day of Pentecost for God to reveal Himself through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Moses went up the mountain alone and waited for the Lord. Jesus waited in many ways for God's plan to be fulfilled at the right time and to be obedient in the middle of it. There are many other examples as well, and at least some of them are better for demonstrating the concept of waiting upon the Lord. With that said, what does it look like to wait upon our Father, and what's the point?

Jesus Christ used the parable of the widow and the unjust judge to explain the concept of persistence in petition before God. The widow demanded justice, and the judge decided to deny her request. She did not stop, however. She knew who had power and authority over her situation, and she took her petition to that person. She didn't just wait for justice to be thrust upon her circumstances. She didn't take vigilante justice, either. She was proactive in her position, but she didn't try to usurp or override authority.

David had been anointed King, but Saul was God's first anointed King of Israel, and he still lived. David held a legitimate claim to the throne, but he humbled himself before God, before men, and before Saul. David fled for his life and repeatedly suffered ill-treatment by Saul. Yet David waited on the Lord. He had opportunities to kill Saul and to take the throne. But he sought God's timing and His way.

So often we want to take the fast way or the easy way in what we're doing. We easily become impatient and unsatisfied with what we have and what we're doing. We get frustrated when we cannot see the fruits of our labors. We want to know what we did right or (sometimes) what we did wrong - to instantly evaluate the efficacy of what we're doing. We get too detail- or goal-oriented. We see waiting as not being a valuable use of time but rather a detour en route to our destination.

One problem is that all too often we view waiting as a waste. How many times have we waited in line somewhere and made no use of our waiting time? We just zone out or become bored. But waiting can be so much more meaningful than that. Waiting provides time for reflection. It also provides more time to listen. Waiting also allows us to develop patience and persistence. We are not meant to use waiting on God as an excuse for laziness. It's not just a matter of doing the same old thing until God eventually tells you to go do something else. Certainly having a job while waiting on God to reveal the next step in your life can be good, but there is so much more to waiting than that.