Romans 8:24-25 NIV For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
What does it mean to “Wait” on the Lord?
- Waiting on the Lord is one of the hardest things we’ll ever have to do.
- As humans, our nature is to go it alone, try to accomplish things in our own strength, and take control of the situation.
- But that’s often not in our best interest.
- Too often I get ahead of God and try to accomplish things I’m not ready for.
Webster’s Dictionary gives a few definitions that catch my attention. “To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary, till the arrival of some person or event.”
- My position of waiting isn’t passive, it’s staying put and resting in expectation.
- I do expect God to provide and I can rest in the knowledge that His provision will be better than anything I try to force on my own.
- Hebrews 11:1-2 NIV Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
Waiting on the Lord is Active:
- It’s preparing my heart, being ready to serve, and expecting God to provide.
- It’s knowing that God is already working behind the scenes so that when the time is exactly right everything will be in place for us to move forward.
It Takes Courage
- Psalms 27:13-14 NIV I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
- Psalms 37:7 NIV Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Know that God is moving behind the scenes:
- Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
God’s timing is different than ours:
- Jeremiah 29:10-11 NIV This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
While we Wait
- Romans 12:12 NIV Be
- joyful in hope,
- patient in affliction,
- faithful in prayer.
Because
- Isaiah 40:29-31 NIV He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.