Actively Waiting

Somewhere in my growing-up experience, I developed an aversion to waiting. Waiting was a waste of time, it was boring, it kept me from doing what I wanted to do. In college I would jump through whatever hoops I could to avoid lines at the cafeteria, book store, library or any where else. In some ways I guess I am the product of our microwave culture.

So when the Bible tells me that waiting is a valuable exercise for spiritual growth, I squirm a little. “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;…” Psalm 37:7 (NIV) . That does not come easy for me. Maybe that is true for you as well. But waiting is a key activity in God’s world. I think because what God does in us while we wait is as important as what it is we are waiting for.

But biblical waiting is not the stand-in-line, bored-to-tears kind of waiting. It is in reality a very active waiting. We must learn both the value of active waiting and how to best exercise it in our lives.

In Isaiah 40, verse thirty-one, we read, “those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.” I invite you to join me in learning more about how best to exercise this valuable spiritual quality of waiting upon the Lord.

Pastor Charlie

Matthew 14:22-33

Notes:

• What God does in us while we wait is as important as what it is we are waiting for.
• Waiting on the Lord is a confident, disciplined, expectant, active, and sometimes painful clinging to God.
• Biblical waiting is a daily decision that says, “I will trust You, and I will obey You. Even though the circumstances of my life are not turning out the way I want them to, and may never turn out the way I would choose. I am betting everything on You. I have no plan B.”

How To Actively Wait On The Lord:

• Wait by Exercising Patient Trust.
• Wait by Exercising Confident Humility.
• Wait by Exercising Expectant Hope.