Kingdom Waiting

“But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)

There are 160 instances of the word “wait” being used in the King James Version bible, according to “The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.” Many are followed by the word “for” to suggest one is waiting for something to happen. There are also many that say “wait on the Lord,” as in the above Scripture. An interesting aspect of this research showed that some of the verses identified in KJV had been changed in the NKJV to say “serve” or “attend.” Many people interpret “wait on the Lord” to mean “wait for the Lord.” That is “wait to see what God will do.” Thus in the above Scripture the meaning would be that those who wait for God to do something in a situation will have their strength renewed.

God has shown me a different meaning. In reading the verses that say “wait on the Lord,” in context, I see that we are being told to “serve” the Lord. Waiters and waitresses in a restaurant don’t just stand around waiting for us to call them over to the table for service. Yes, some impatient customers do a lot of that waving wait staff down for any and everything. But wait staff actually approach us to wait on us, to attend to our needs, to serve the meals and drinks to us, and provide whatever else is needed. They take the initiative and anticipate our needs.

That’s how it should be in waiting on the Lord. If you sit back and wait for God to come to you, expecting Him to do something about your situation, you might very well miss the boat. He does not want you to be that bump on a log or an immovable rock in a river bed. He is a God of action. We must take those first steps towards Him.

Yes, Scriptures tell us more than a few times to “Be Still,” as Jesus commanded the wind and waves to be still. But in that stillness, God still expects action. In the waiting, you’re not just that immovable rock. At the very least you are watchful, looking for God, seeking His hand at work around you. Hopefully you’re also praying to God. Rarely is the command meant for us to do nothing, unless rest is what we truly need as I discussed in a previous post, concerning what happened after my recent surgery. Psalm 25: 3-5 tells us:

“Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day.”

God intends us to be in His presence all day (and night,) always focused on Him, walking in His love, and being His light to those around us. In attending to others’ needs we are waiting on (serving) Him. How does that play out? Here’s one way it has worked in my life.

I began hearing a symphonic percussion intro in my mind not long after Pat and I married in 2015. It got louder through 2016 and by the beginning of 2017 it was deafening. God was calling me to the ministry, to become ordained. I felt I was already doing His work, waiting on Him. Pat and I were already involved with GriefShare. But that apparently wasn’t enough. In Aug 2017, I approached our Pastor, explained about the drum beats, and wanted to answer God’s call. It took 4 years. I was ordained May 30, 2021. As we all know, God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. Thus I wasn’t sitting around waiting to be ordained in those 4 years. We began facilitating DivorceCare along with GriefShare, I took over a bible study group when the mentor moved to Houston and dove deeper into Scriptures, studying His Word. I drew closer to Him.

Had I answered His call, then sat back and waited for Him to do something, to make it happen, I’d still be waiting. In those 4 years, I grew stronger in the knowledge of His Word, but more importantly, I grew stronger in knowing Him and anticipating His needs, which were that He wanted my complete surrender and obedience to Him. He has given me strength to follow Him and not become weary (bad knees and all,) to walk in His ways and not become fearful (faint.) He has guided me and taught me in such a way that I can see His Word come to life, to see His hand working in everything, as the eagle sees everything below him in detail as he soars high above. Praise God! Without Him I would be nothing.

The next time you ask someone what’s going on in their life and they say they’re just waiting on the Lord, ask them to explain what they mean by waiting. Guide them into action if their response is that they are waiting on God to move on their behalf. Don’t let them be the guy who was stuck on a deserted island, praying to God to rescue him. When a boat stops by, and later a plane, offering help, he dismisses them because he’s waiting for God to save him.

Be Blessed!