Waiting:
living by what I know
living by what I know
to be true about God
when I don't know
what's true about my life
+ Waiting Isn't a Waste
God is continuing to patiently teach me how to wait well. During this season of Lent, I have things I am waiting for in relation to my life, my health, my family, Emmaus City, and more. And when I am not responding well in the waiting, I can be tempted to react with anger, anxiety, or apathy (or all three).
In the midst of my desire to become a better man, husband, father, friend, neighbor, and pastor in relation to waiting, I am learning from people like Andrew Murray, Betsy Childs Howard, and Mark Vroegop in his thoughtful little book, Waiting Isn't a Waste. For a teaser of the wisdom I have found inside Vroegop's words, here's an excerpt from Chapter 3: (Waiting) Thoughtfully.
In the midst of my desire to become a better man, husband, father, friend, neighbor, and pastor in relation to waiting, I am learning from people like Andrew Murray, Betsy Childs Howard, and Mark Vroegop in his thoughtful little book, Waiting Isn't a Waste. For a teaser of the wisdom I have found inside Vroegop's words, here's an excerpt from Chapter 3: (Waiting) Thoughtfully.
Waiting Thoughtfully
Waiting tests what you believe.
It's an opportunity to use uncertainty as the means of spiritual growth and intimacy with our Savior. And we don't want to waste our waiting by just reacting or emoting.
Qavah: In the Tension
The most common word for waiting in the Old Testament is qavah. It's used forty-seven times from Genesis to Malachi, and the meaning is "to look with eager expectation." Qavah is a word filled with action and purpose. One Hebrew lexicon connects the origins of the word to the twisting or stretching of a cord. You could think of qavah as:
"looking with hope in the tension of life."
I believe that I shall
look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong,
and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
+ Psalm 27:13-14
I waiting patiently for the LORD;
He inclined to me and heard my cry.
+ Psalm 40:1
O LORD, be gracious to us;
we wait for You.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in
the time of trouble.
+ Isaiah 33:2
But they who wait for 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
With the LORD, waiting is active and intentional, especially when life gets twisted and complicated.
Yahal: Hold onto Hope
The second most common word for waiting is yahal. It's used forty-two times in the Old Testament, and the nuance is more directly tied to confidence or hope. The translators of the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, often used the Greek word hope for this Hebrew word.
Be strong,
Be strong,
and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the LORD!
+ Psalm 31:24
But for You, O LORD,
do I wait;
it is You, O LORD my God,
who will answer.
+ Psalm 38:15
Waiting is seeing seasons of delay as opportunities to hope in God.
Hakah: Patiently Endure
Hakah is more connected to spiritual patience. Often it is related to trusting the promises of God, especially through painful circumstances or challenges:
Our soul waits for the LORD;
Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
+ Psalm 33:20
From of old no one had heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who
wait for Him.
+ Isaiah 64:4
Waiting is the spiritual posture of endurance.
From a biblical perspective,
to wait is to hope.
To wait is to trust.
To wait is to have faith.
One of the chief needs
in our waiting upon God,
one of the deepest secrets
of its blessedness and blessing,
is a quiet, confident persuasion
that is not in vain;
courage to believe that
God will hear and help.
+ Andrew Murray
I'm in the middle
of (a) decision right now,
and I'm not getting any direction,
but I'm feeling close to the Lord
because I'm struggling.
I'm dependent.
I feel in resonance with the Spirit;
while I don't have an answer,
I'm where God wants me to be
because I'm focused on Him.
+ Maxie Dunham
Focus
Focus
Come, and however feeble you feel, just wait in His presence ... come with all that is dark and cold in you into the sunshine of God's holy, omnipotent love, and sit and wait there, with the one thought: Here I am ... As the sun does its work in the weak one who seeks its rays, God will do His work in you. + Andrew Murray
None who wait for You
shall be put to shame.
+ Psalm 25:3
Adore
Reframe your internal question from
"What's missing?" to
"What's true about God?"
For You are the
For You are the
God of my salvation;
for You I will wait
all the day long.
+ Psalm 25:5
David links waiting and worship.
He's filling the gaps of life
with adoration.
The LORD IS
my light and salvation;
my light and salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The LORD IS
the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
+ Psalm 27:1
Seek
Invite and request God's help.
It's easy to make the mistake
of thinking that waiting means
we are doing nothing.
Waiting with the LORD
means that I'm seeking
God's help in a new and
even desperate way.
Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Bring me out of my distress.
Consider my affliction and my trouble.
Guard my soul.
Deliver me!
+ Psalm 25:16-18, 20
We're not in control,
We're not in control,
so we talk to the One who is.
Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. + Eugene Peterson
Trust
Embrace by faith
the contentment and spiritual rest
that come from knowing
God can be trusted.
+ pgs. 40-52
With waiting and hope,
