It’s
morning and you walk out the door at 6:30am to head across town for an
important engagement you have at 7:00am. All is going as expected until you
turn the corner to see you left the headlights on all night. Your fears are
confirmed as you turn the key in the ignition to no avail.
Two
choices emerge in your mind. There is a bus stop half a mile from where you
live and you would board a vehicle that can get you to your destination. You’d
probably be late, but it’s definitely a possibility. Then there is a neighbour
who lives next door but is known for her ability to turn every five (5)-minute
task into half an hour. You call in the favor and she says she just needs to
get dressed and will be there shortly.
By
now it’s 6:40am. Do you begin the half mile trek to the bus stop or wait for
your friend who continues to claim that she will be there soon? Your choice
will reveal what you deem as most reliable to fulfill your need of getting to
your meeting because we naturally wait
on what we believe to be reliable.
There’s
a reason no car is on queue at an empty filling station, hoping for the
attendants to magically appear. There’s a reason no one is at the post office on Christmas
day waiting to send their order. No one is coming. Waiting is pointless. We only wait on what we believe to be
reliable.
To
wait on God is to see Him as the greatest and only solution to a problem.
To wait on God is to affirm that He is reliable. To wait on God is to put
your hope in Him above all other things. To wait is to hope. To wait is
an expression of faith. And this is not the unsure “I-hope-this-works”
kind of faith. This faith is an affirmation of the certainty and
unfailing trust that we have in God.
Do
you wait on God? Do you persist in prayer expectantly before an answer
comes? Or do you give up waiting on God after a few days? Do you wait on
God and look to Him throughout your day for your joy? Or are you waiting
on a text, Facebook message, or a certain number of “likes” on your last tweet
to bring you a sense of happiness? A lack of waiting on God reveals that
you are not convinced that He is reliable in answering prayers or bringing true
joy to His children.
The
unfortunate reality is, we are all prone to wait on (and hope in) many other
things besides God. We habitually wait on a change in circumstances, money, a
person, or an opportunity as solutions to our problems. It does not come
naturally to wait on God. Rather, waiting on God is a spiritual discipline that
is to be cultivated, not something we can expect will happen automatically. This
prayer showcases two important things. First, there is a temptation
to wait on something other than God. So, what are you tempted to wait
for? What do you believe is a reliable solution to your current circumstances?
A boyfriend, a husband, a change in your boss, a best friend, being in the
inner circle, a smaller body, a job, a promotion, a successful ministry, more
money, children, more children, nicer clothes?
Waiting
is active. It is a continuous and active looking to God as the answer to
all problems and unfulfilled longings. It is a conscious choice to
persist in seeking God, not a subconscious existing between prayer requests. It
is a fight to continually refocus the hope of our souls onto God alone. It is
the constant reminding of our souls that He is trustworthy, He is reliable, and
He will come through. Though waiting on God is crucial when prayers
remain unanswered and God seems distant, it is just as necessary in fruitful
seasons when we are prone to complacency and self-reliance.
Only
through communion with God do we find fullness of joy, abundant life, and help
in every circumstance. Wait on him and thou shall in the end bloom!
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