Wait

I seem to be finding myself right in the middle of another life lesson to be learned. Waiting on God. I used to think this simply meant waiting. You know, letting time pass, being patient, WAITING. Yes, God does have His own sense of timing, and usually we have to wait a lot longer for things than we would like. We have to be diligent to be patient, to stay in the present, to not get ahead of Him, to not try to force things to happen in our own time.

But I'm quickly learning that this idea of waiting is just a fraction of what it really means to wait on Him. Truly waiting on God is not quite so passive as my previous ideas of it would suggest. It's really an action - to wait on Him. It is activating faith, believing He is working, and expecting Him to show up in a big way at any moment. It is faith in full force.

As He has been working me through the true concept of living in faith and by faith (which I've shared with you a little in previous posts), all that He has shown me and taught me, all that His word says, leads me to believe this: The kind of faith it takes to wait, believe, and expect God in my life is exactly the kind of faith that gets Him excited. It pleases Him. It honors and glorifies Him. It is this kind of faith - full of expectation and confidence - that moves Him into action, working in my life on my behalf, working all for good.

There are plenty of scriptures in the Bible that say that doubt cancels out our faith, and leaves us with nothing. One verse in particular comes to mind:

• Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the billowing surge out at sea that is blown hither and thither and tossed by the wind. For truly, let not such a person imagine that he will receive anything [he asks for] from the Lord. (James 1:6-7)

In the same manner, the Bible clearly states that faith yields results in our lives:

• And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive. (Matthew 21:22)

There are many things I have turned over to God to work out for me. Some things, I know are long-term requests, and I must continually believe that He is constantly working in those areas of my life. Other things, maybe I'll see the answers much sooner than I know, or maybe He'll require me to patiently wait. But either way, I will do my best to wait on Him, believing all the while, even when I cannot see, that He is in control, and that He will prove Himself as God again and again. What a weight off my shoulders!

• Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)