How to “Wait on God”
Like the farmer who plants and waters, he knows it is God who causes all things to grow. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians – “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)
In all seasons of life, there is always a process. If we desire to live well, it would be beneficial to learn to honor and understand this process. The best way to start is by learning to understand the Giver of Life – God.
If God is the source of Life then learning to wait on God = learning to live Life.
The term “Waiting on God” has perhaps been poorly taught and misunderstood as passive waiting – just doing nothing until God sends a clear sign on what to do next. Until He does something dramatic, we do nothing. This is opposite of what the Bible teaches.
Waiting on God is an active waiting, meaning we are working diligently on our current responsibilities while focused intently on what God desire’s next. Perhaps a great example we can learn from is King David, known as the “man after God’s own heart”. His lyrics in one of his songs describes very clearly what waiting on God is like:
“As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy.” (Psalm 123:2)
Photo taken from the movie "I served the King of England" at allmoviephoto.com. The movie has no relation to this post.
Imagine a good servant who is serving his/her master at the dinner table. This servant serves the food and waits while the master eats.
While the boss eats, does the servant day dreams about going online on Facebook? Or going shopping later? Of course not! A good servant will continue to be focused on the master’s every movement, reading his body language and getting ready to serve his next request. If the master needs a glass of water or more food or wishes to say something to servant, the good servant probably already knows it from reading the master’s body language.
This is what it truly means to wait on God. We live our lives completely focused on hearing from Him & being ready to act.
We must first take the posture of a servant. It is we that must try to listen and understand God, not the other way around.
Over time, we develop a closer, sweeter and more intimate relationship with Him. We begin to understand Him more and more. Waiting on Him becomes a great joy rather than a painful duty.
Let us wait on God with the right attitude and posture. Let our eyes be”as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy.” I’m sure we’ll be able to hear more clearly from God and also begin to enjoy the waiting process.
