Sunday, March 16, 2008

just wait?

Wait.

This word has been brought up in so many conversations lately that I couldn’t help but write about it. Seriously, lots of people have used this word recently, and I wondered why.
What is the importance of this word? What does it mean?

After careful consultation, my dear friend Mr. Dictionary says that to wait means to “remain inactive or in a state of repose, as until something expected happens, to be available or in readiness, or even to remain neglected for a time.

So why do we wait? Why should we wait? Is not this life to be LIVED? Read the Bible: Of course it’s to be lived. God wants action from His followers, He wants us to live and move and exist in Him… and I would imagine that that requires living.

During my quiet time this morning, I read this: “They all wait for You to give them their food in due season…”. “They” refers to God’s works, if you read the rest of the Psalm (which I love! It’s all marked up in my Bible). A note I wrote next to the verse is dependent on Him alone. Him alone: God alone. God. Alone. Am I dependent on Him alone?

Now this begs the question: why would I depend on Him and Him alone? What about the authorities or even the friends He has placed in my life? This passage does not say. I think we know why. Couldn’t the “works of God” get their own food? Couldn’t they provide for themselves? (Now I’m talking about human “works”) They could, yes. So is their “waiting” pointless? No, I don’t think so.

God has given me life and breath. He created the Universe, and He is Lord and Ruler of all things. Think of all He has done. Just try!
I think waiting on God shows Him respect. I think it gives Him the glory, and I think it shows submission overall. We know the things we are capable of – we’re able to do a lot of things! But we wait because it shows Him preference. Because He deserves that respect. We are saying, “God, I know what I want to do, I know what my desire is, but I want to hear Your voice, and I’m waiting on You. Waiting is really an example of submission. It is not an easy thing to do, patiently.

To say, “No, I think I’ll wait” when all YOU want to do is to GO takes a lot. But think about what waiting means to God. I don’t think He’ll be impressed with you, because He’s not, He knows you. I don’t think He’ll give you the honor, because by waiting you’re pretty much giving most of it to Him anyway. I think when we wait we give Him glory. We say, “Not MY will, but Yours, Lord”

We wait because it is good, because He is our strength, because waiting will preserve us, because we do not know the future, we wait as a testament to God… we wait for a multitude of reasons. Think about who God is – that’s why we wait. Because He is God. Because we’re not and we acknowledge that!

Psalm 62:5 says, "My soul, wait in silence for God only, for (because) my hope is from Him". I think that the best place for a servant of God to be is dependent on God. Whatever we're doing, whatever stage we are going through... we do it in dependence on Him and Him alone. Not because waiting is good, but because God is. You know?

2 comments:

  1. Firstly... I dislike that I can't see other people's comments until I comment on my own. That's annoying, because I might be repeating someone else, w/out knowing it.

    Secondly... I really like the last paragraph, about the best place for a servant of God to be. I especially like the way you expressed the tension that exists... "Whatever you're doing... do it in dependence on Him." Waiting is neither good nor bad in and of itself... but if we wait for God, it is good, because God is good.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice piece on waiting. I'm happy to see other thinking Christfollowers who allow themselves the freedom to search out a thing to its depth or at least try. In my own humble opinion, waiting, like most all virtues, is a direct reflection of God, His Character. After all, we're made in his image, yet marred by the curse of sin. So waiting, we should expect, goes against the flesh but with the Spirit. Waiting isn't a human contrivance. Waiting is a reflection of God's glory because he waits for us as well. It's a good thing too, because without His perfect waiting we'd all have been burned up by now. Thank you Jesus for waiting!

    www.thinkingchristfollowers.blogspot.com

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