“Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!” (Psalm 27:14 NKJV)
“Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.” (Psalm 37:34 NKJV)
“But those that wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)
One of my favorite movies growing up was “Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” If you watched it then you most certainly remember Veruka. I can hear her in my head as I am writing this shouting out, “But I want it NOW!” I think we can all relate with her desire to have everything she wanted, the way she wanted it, when she wanted it. Sadly, this is how I have come to the Lord on far too many occasions (and it hasn’t worked yet).
According to Quora.com “the word ‘wait’ appears 154 times in the King James Version Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.” It would seem that the fast and easy route is seldom the best route. In my opinion, most times “slow cooked” foods contain much more flavor than “fast” foods. The expression, “take time to smell the roses” is good advice (unless you are allergic to roses).
There are many passages of scripture in the Old Testament that share the advantages of “waiting on the Lord.” In these passages the Hebrew word for “wait” has been translated into English as wait on, wait for, hope in, trust in, expect, rely on, and look unto. The interesting thing is that the root word used actually means “to bind together (perhaps by twisting)” (according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible). The Amplified Bible’s rendering of Isaiah 40:31 reads, “those who wait for the LORD [who expect, look for, and hope]…” This same version for Psalm 27:14 reads, “wait for and confidently expect the LORD.” Combining all of these I think the following comes pretty close to what is being said, “Those who have expectantly bound themselves together with the Lord in hopeful trust, reliance, and expectation…” (Eric’s personal expanded paraphrase). I think you get the picture.
To me, the clearest New Testament passage that clarifies what the Old testament writers are teaching us is Hebrews 6:11-12 in the Amplified Bible: “”And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence [all the way through] so as to realize and enjoy the full assurance of hope until the end so that you will not be [spiritually] sluggish, but [will instead be] imitators of those who through faith [lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power] and by patient endurance [even when suffering] are [now] inheriting the promises.”
Through faith and patience, as we wait on the Lord, we will be strengthened, exalted, and inherit the promises given to us by our loving Heavenly Father. Look what Peter said about these promises that belong to us, “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises that enable us to share in his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” (2 Peter 1:4 NLT). Waiting on the Lord is not passively sitting in a recliner waiting for blessings to drop out of heaven into our laps. In my life, the greatest blessings, and fullest experience of these promises, has come as I bind myself to the Lord in service, combining active faith with patient endurance with the expectation of better things to come.
it’s not easy, but I am starting to learn…
Eric’s Life Lesson # 19: “Hurry up and wait (but no sleeping in the waiting room).”