WAIT ON THE LORD
How often we are told in Scripture to wait on the Lord! We have an issue;
we cry out to God for help; then we are told to wait…. The last thing we want
to do us wait when we need a solution NOW.
So, what is this waiting about? What does it mean to wait?
So far, I have found two Hebrew words, translated “wait”, that throw
light on the process of waiting for God to act on our behalf.
The first word is “qavah” meaning, among other ideas, to bind
together by twisting. This is a picture, in ancient Hebrew, of a rope maker. He
buys strands for his rope from the peasants in the market. Some strands are
good quality, others inferior, but he uses them all in the making of his rope.
This illustrates the process of “twisting” our life experiences into
a “rope” of faith that connects us to God. As we wait, i.e.,
“twist together” the strands of our lives, good and bad, and we are
creating the faith that connects us with God.
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to
come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who
sincerely seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6 NLT
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith
and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Hebrews 6:12 NIV
So, waiting is the process of developing the faith that God rewards.
Patience is an essential part of that process. The Greek word,
“makrothumia” implies longsuffering, the willingness to endure
whatever it takes to get the outcome you desire.
God works in His way and in His time to develop in us those qualities which
reflect His nature in us. His agenda is always, in the end, to transform us
into the likeness of Jesus. He uses all of our life experiences, including
those we struggle with and cry out to Him for help, to twist together a rope of
faith that waits for Him to work “for our good in all things.
This kind of faith takes us from “trusting God for… ” (the way in which
we get what we want) to “trusting God…” (the person in whom we put
our trust).
To be continued…