Waiting on God

<<anticipating His response>>

A term used of spending time in prayer and meditation (also called pressing into God or seeking the mind of God), especially when needing His answer to a particular problem or situation. This often extended period goes beyond a normal, regular devotional time spent in communion with God (also called a quiet time or daily watch) which doesn’t involve the same level of intensity or determination of heart to ‘hear’ His mind on a matter. It is a humble acknowledgement from us that ‘although I don’t know the solution or the way ahead I am confident you do Lord; I am relying on you to show me’, in contrast to blundering along doing what seems right by human reasoning (Jdg 17:6; Prov 14:12, 21:2).

Waiting on God is a spiritual discipline involving the stilling of our spirit, by removing ourselves from the interruptions and distractions of life, to spend unhurried time in an attitude of expectancy and openness, for the Holy Spirit to speak into our mind with peace, comfort and guidance as we pray and read the Scriptures. God desires to communicate with us, however He seldom responds quickly to our impatient timetables. Not that He necessarily delays the answer, rather He longs for us to spend quality time focused on and communing with Him, instead of just getting the answer and hurrying off to do His will. He wants intimate fellowship besides action from us.

"My soul waits on God; from Him comes my salvation" (Ps 62:1). It is a conscious choice – turning our attention away from what we desire to being occupied with God, the source of our supply and spiritual life itself, acknowledging His Lordship and right to direct our lives, having the attitude “speak Lord for your servant hears” with a readiness to “do whatever He says” (1 Sam 3:10; Jn 2:5). We are to yield ourselves as faithful, obedient servants to Him, yet to receive instructions we must hear from Him, being sensitive to His voice.

Waiting for God is acknowledging He is all I need and He has the answers. It is not a mystical exercise but a spiritual discipline involving patience, delighting ourselves in Him, yielding unreservedly in total dependence, and being fully convinced He is a good God who has our best interests in mind, confident He will meet with us His children (Jer 29:11-14, 33:3; Rom 8:28; 1 Jn 4:16).

As waiting on God is an honour we give Him, it should be a regular part of our devotional life. It will refresh us and we will gain new insights into His character and direction for our lives (Ps 40:1-4).

“None who wait or hope in you will be ashamed...my hope is in you...we wait in hope” (Ps 25:3,5, 33:20). Do I wait expectantly to hear from and be touched by God, for encountering Him should be my primary focus? To walk consistently in His will requires ongoing, purposefully planned, unhurried

Don’t try and ‘do life’ without a good connection to the Lord

times set aside to experience Him, with these precious encounters becoming milestones in our Christian walk. “Your face I will seek Lord...earnestly I wait for you” (Ps 27:8,14, 130:5,6).

Although waiting for God to bring about His purposes after He has spoken, can be a trying period in our lives, it enables us to know Him better and trust Him more deeply. Between His calling and commissioning is an unspecified period of training, refining our desires and cleansing our attitudes so we will be ‘useful vessels’. It involves a confidence that He knows best especially with regard to timing. God doesn’t operate on our schedules, and expecting that He will sets us up for disappointment. God is sovereign. He stated, "My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (Isa 46:10). Do I have the quiet confidence that He will fulfill His purpose for me (Ps 138:8)?

“No eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right…” (Isa 64:4,5).When we wait patiently on Him in an attitude and lifestyle of dependency we affirm He is in control, resulting in renewed strength enabling us to rise above life’s problems, seeing them in the proper perspective (Isa 40:29-31). God rewards those who diligently seek Him in faith so being intimately connected to, and waiting on Him, the source of life, is a wise choice (Jn 10:10, 15:4,5; Heb 11:6). It is not a passive waiting; rather it is waiting with hope and expectancy to receive from His good hand.