Waiting Ways

"Wait on the Lord and keep His way" (Psa 37:34)

In God's Word we are repeatedly commanded to wait on God. But many of us do not know how to do it. Let us learn about this briefly today.

Pour out your heart before God.

Waiting on God is more than just praying. In prayer we essentially present our requests before God and seek His favour for an answer. But while waiting on God we simply open up and throw up ourselves before the Almighty. It is not an exaggeration if I say that waiting on God begins only after presenting our needs before Him in prayer. Waiting for an answer to prayer, especially for guidance, is often part of the answer. Here is David with his testimony and teaching: "Truly my soul silently waits for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. Trust in Him at all times, you people, pour out your heart before Him" (Psa 62:1,5,8). Waiting is the continual communion with God in spirit. It is just waiting on "God alone" (Psa 62:5).

Saturate yourself with the Scriptures.

"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word do I hope" (Psa 130:5). We must feed richly on the Word of God during seasons of waiting on God. This is what Jesus did during the forty days He spent in the desert before He began His public ministry. God had revealed His plan to young Joseph through dreams. But everything that followed in his life was just the opposite. The imprisonment in Egypt on false charges of sexual misbehaviour provided for him an excellent time to wait on God who never fails His Word. The Word of the Lord tested Joseph until the time came for its fulfilment (Psa 105:19).

Keep on serving God faithfully.

Waiting on God does not mean we stop working for Him. Priest Zacharias kept on serving God till his very old age while waiting for an answer to his prayer for a child (Lk 1:5-14). While going through dry spells in his life and waiting on God, David kept on composing songs for Him which became the Messianic prophecies and promises, like Psalm 69:3. Servants of God down through the ages have testified that they had been soaking their pillows at nights with tears, but God anointed them with the oil of gladness when they stood on the pulpit. This is the power of waiting on God.