The importance of waiting on God
Updated: Jan 28, 2021
We're all waiting for something or someone. A job, spouse, news, change, whatever it is. Regardless of where your journey started, we all meet in the waiting area. And somewhere along the line when our eyes are open we learn that this waiting room is where life happens. And all that life is because ultimately we're waiting for God.
Waiting on God takes patience and trust that He is "coming". That nothing is delayed. But the fallen world makes this difficult because we yearn to have things now. And if God can't make them, we, like the Israelites in the desert, use our most prized possessions to manufacturer a god for ourselves. Because anything that takes the place of God. Anything you choose to give yourself instead of waiting for God ultimately becomes your object of reverence.
We all imagine what we want our lives to be. How we'd like things to work out. But life very rarely plays out as the perfect mental scripts we have so skillfully written. God's plan vs my plan. My plan leads to the end of this world. God's plan leads to beautiful beginnings. It's difficult for me to trust God's story because I feel like I know what I want and how it can practically come to be. I can also plan and give each phase a time frame. I can be in control and be less anxious. God promises victory but it always seems delayed. Because if it doesn't happen now then when? And if it happens later does it really matter? Another dilemma is wanting the freedom of choice without the consequences because that takes away the freedom and gives me only the choice to be doomed. We confuse God's freedom with the chains and shackles that so easily and comfortably fit around our wrists and ankles.
Not waiting on God ultimately means that we want to be Gods. Or gods. Small "g" because your godship is doomed to fail. God has a birds-eye view of our lives and it's sad that we have so much confidence in only what we see ahead of us. The desires of this world make it difficult to wait on God because they do not lead where He resides. Our worldly desires purpose to keep us in the world. What God desires in us waiting on Him is the moulding of individuals who lack nothing in His presence.
Impatience in the wait comes from being fearful. Fear is not of the Lord. God gives the spirit of a sound mind, not a timid one. (James ). But I want to be like the women who trust God with their future ( Proverbs 31).
“Waiting is not about what you get at the end of the wait; it’s about what you become as you wait.” God stands ready to use the fire of waiting to mould our faith, melt away
our dross, and bring us out on the other side refined." Paul Tripp
Psalm 145:15-16"The eyes of all look to You, And You give them their food in due time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing."
The wait is oftentimes, if not always, the least exciting bit. The growth aspect of it all. The preparation stage. Sometimes not waiting is like choosing to rather have your meal raw because good heavens you can't wait for it to cook! Also once we have what we have been waiting for, after a while we're like "meh" because I think when we have that feeling of "waiting" it's actually the deeper, soulful longing for God. Because nothing that we wait on and receive will compare to the glory of His return that we're waiting for. The doors that God opens will never outdo the beauty of God Himself.
God knows our deepest desires. He also does not withhold good from us. What you do not have now is not good for you now. It is important to wait on God because He is God. All in good time. All in God time.
So whatever you're waiting for. Remember that the wait is not an idle stand in a doorway. It's a life lived for His glory. A life of surrender. To wait on God is to praise God.