Waiting; Who Me?

In a word; yes! Waiting in this life is inescapable and whether we get it right or mess it up, it is a persistent companion from whom there is no complete escape. Now the very best kind of waiting is the waiting that is birthed from inner workings of our heart. This waiting is the courageous choice that our heart makes. And since it springs forth from the heart, then the attitudes and postures of our heart are critical.

While we may force our bodies to stay in a waiting position, what is happening on the inside is at least as important as posturing our bodies to a quiet place. Because how we wait is at least as vital as that we wait. And what is happening on the inside will determine the effectiveness of our seasons of wait. We can stand resolutely or even bend our knee, but on the inside if we are waiting with our stomachs in a knot and fists clenched; we accomplish nothing. Or we can surrender the inner workings of our heart to the One who knows us best and who has a perfect plan for our life and tarry with open palms and peaceful hearts and fulfill His every desire for our life. Of course, either way, we will all wait : )

So what does waiting on God look like? Well some of the ways that the dictionary defines waiting are; “to stay in a place of hopeful expectation, to remain stationary in readiness, to look forward expectantly, to hold back expectantly, to be ready and available, to be temporarily neglected or unrealized.” I believe that these are some good starting places.

We need to stay in a place of hopeful expectation while we are waiting. It reminds me of the farmer who was furiously pumping the handle on his new well, when a stranger walked up, glumly shook his head and remarked that the farmer’s well dig must have been a failure. The exasperated and perspiring farmer looked up and asked “How could you possibly know that?” to which the stranger replied “Then where is your bucket?” We need to position ourselves for God to show up and be prepared! Is your bucket ready?

We need to look forward expectantly. Where we need the Lord to move may not happen at this very moment…in fact I have found it rarely happens in this very moment, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be watching for the sign of His movement in our lives. It may be tomorrow, next week or years down the road…but when the appointed time comes His power and presence will surely show up and transform the very foundations of our lives.

Sometimes when we are waiting on God we are asked to hold back expectantly and this can be difficult when we, like race horses are chomping at the bit to leap from the starting gate. Yes, the starting gate is the place where the remarkable horses get separated from the merely noteworthy. For months the young horses are trained to accept the confines of the starting pen while remaining at full alert for the whooshing of the gate and the ringing of the bell that signals the commencement of the race. So that when the gate cracks open, the horse runs straight and strong. And there are seasons in life where Papa calls us to stand ready for His starting bell. If you find yourself anxious and closed in, stuck in a starting gate that you’d never imagined; commit to wait in peace, but be fully prepared, for on a day of His choosing your starting bell will chime and you’ll be off!

The last two definitions seem linked to me and I personally find them the most difficult. Sometimes we are called to be ready and available, but to be temporarily neglected or unrealized. Ouch! Ok, now first off, I need to add a disclaimer that our heavenly Father never under any circumstances neglects us-but I think at least most of us have seasons where it feels that way. We ready our lives and present ourselves available to Papa for His use and then we stay in a place of hopeful expectancy; just listening for His call. We spend our time prepared; looking forward to the realization of our dreams, striving to hear the sound of His release...but the silence mocks our resolve. We hold back expectantly, straining at the starting gate, experiencing the narrow places of existence or ministry that are currently ours, listening with the whole of our being for the starting bell to sound, so that we may break free of the confining gate…but there is only the beating of our heart and the pervasive silence that threatens to envelop us. And in that moment we are tempted to feel neglected and we are dangerously close to believing the enemy’s lie that we will live our lives without realizing the dreams that were planted deep within. But dear friends in those moments we must choose rather to believe the heart and the plan of our heavenly Father who sowed those dreams and promises in the first place! He can be trusted with every situation and circumstance that touches our lives, for always they are filtered through His loving hands before they ever draw near.

Yes, waiting is never easy and of course most of us know that we should wait on God but we are the offspring of a “hurry-up” society. We want everything right now. We have multiple drive-thru lanes because we don’t want to wait for our fast food and self-checkout machines to quickly purchase our groceries. There are instant kiosks at the airports, banks and theaters, all because we don’t want to wait.

 

 

We rush around hurrying up, we drive continually in the “passing” lane; trying to buy ourselves a couple of extra minutes. Have you ever watched a car (and its frustrated driver) that is in the “fast” lane and they are stuck behind a car who is determined to go the speed limit? You can just see the frustration levels rising! But some things just won’t be rushed and God is one of those. He moves at His own pace. i.e. This isn’t Burger King where we get to “have it our way”. He just isn’t on our time table and no matter how much we “ride His bumper” He’s still going to move at His determined pace.

No, we are a “have it now” society from everything from our continual Twitter feeds to our daily banking information-we want it like yesterday and we’re not too keen on waiting on Papa God either. How often have we been seeking God’s direction and then given up because we didn’t get the answer when we thought we should? But as my pastor, Shawn Franco shared in I Kings 18; Elijah prayed and waited on God extensively before the rain came. Who knows, but that the guidance you’ve been seeking isn’t right around the corner! Waiting on the Lord requires perseverance, so we need to keep our bodies alert and our hearts listening.

 

And Isaiah 64:4 reminds us that God “…acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.” His job is to act, ours is to wait. But what does that look like in practical life? In the original Hebrew, the word “wait” here means “to adhere to”. So waiting is like getting attached to God. The popular 80’s jingle comes to mind; “I am stuck on Band-Aid and Band-Aid’s stuck on me.” Lol  The jingle continues to sing the virtues of the bond of its bandage by promising to stay on through the water, soapy suds and generally no matter what. I think this is a good picture of what waiting on God should look like; we get stuck on Jesus and hold on tight through the wet and slippery places that life naturally affords us. : ) Waiting on the Lord “glues” us to God’s presence. Hallelujah!

 

And Isaiah 40:31 promises “…They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles…” Now we all long to have our strength renewed and soar above the heights, but no one wants to do the waiting part, right? Perhaps we’ve envisioned waiting as seclusion and isolation, but the original Hebrew defines wait in this passage as “binding together by twisting”. So our strength is actually restored and our possibilities begin to soar as we are twisted together with the Lord through waiting. And what could be closer than threads twisted together? No, waiting on God is neither isolation nor seclusion. And it is noteworthy that in mass production, a cord’s strength is relative to the degree of twisting that it experiences. More twisting produces greater strength and it’s the same in our relationship with God through the twists and turns of life! So waiting binds us with God and makes us stronger! Two things that I desperately need, how about you?

In closing, I believe that many of us have great intentions to wait on God for we inherently know that His plan is best, but after praying for a season, discouragement begins to set in; displacing our hope and we consider giving up. But waiting in hope requires an unshakable trust in God’s plan. He alone measures out eternity in the span of His hand, and He alone confidently holds every grain of sand in the hourglass of our earthly life. He alone knows when how long, is too long. He alone understands the number of our days and the works that we were exclusively created to fulfill. He will not be one moment later than His perfect plan dictates.

Today, if you are feeling the confines of the starting gate, being hemmed in before and behind, settle your heart to wait, but don’t you relax and get comfy! For on the day of His choosing, the gates will open and you will run straight and strong the race He fashioned you for! And while it is true that His guidance or promise fulfillment may not come when or in the way we expected or envisioned it; surely His plan is unsurpassed and worthy of any delay it may seem to bring.

 

 

Papa, give us new spiritual eyes that today we’ll envision our waiting to be Your interweaving embrace, where our strength is renewed and we ascend to our God ordained pinnacles! We love and trust You…but help us do it better. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

Note: A sermon by my pastor, Shawn Franco of Cornerstone Assembly of God was the original cause of this devotional. I encourage you to listen to his message which offers different thoughts and perspectives about waiting on God. If you find yourself in a place of waiting it will be a blessing to you.  It can be found at http://www.cornerstone.ag/ 
You will see the Media link near the top right of the site, click there, then on Listen To Sermons, then select the September 8th sermon.