No one is exempt from waiting, a little while or a long time, in the course of everyday life. Babies wait for moms or dads to supply their milk and food, and to do everything that is part of the care and attention they need and depend on.
Little children eager to join their older siblings or friends wait impatiently for their first day of school. After years of rules and homework, many formerly eager students find they “cannot wait” to graduate and leave their school days behind!
Eventually, most adults will resign themselves to the reality that waiting is inherent in the multitude of mundane activities that make up daily life. Resigned though we be, we may often feel frustrated if not aggravated by the wait times imposed on us.
We wait for the phone to ring, or we wait for someone to answer; we wait for sunshine and warm weather, farmers wait for rain. Until the Lord returns, there is no end to waiting. Reports abound on the time we spend waiting in a variety of scenarios. One survey claims that on average people spend the equivalent of five years of their lives waiting in lines!
Nevertheless, not even faith-based surveys ask: “how much time do you spend waiting on the Lord.” No statistics are available.
Yet, believers can often be heard to say, “I am waiting on the Lord,” when seeking solutions to serious problems or trying to decide what to do about a pressing personal matter. The question is, what does it means to “wait on the Lord,” as is written in Isaiah 40:30-31 (NKJV):
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 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.
What do the experts say? Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “to wait on” (or the less used, “to wait upon”), to mean:
1. (a) to attend as a servant; (b) to supply the wants of; serve
2. to make a formal call on
3. to wait for
Biblical hero and patriarch, Abraham, waited 25 years for the son God promised would be born to him and Sarah.
Joseph waited 13 years before he was released from prison for a crime he did not commit.
David, anointed by the prophet Samuel when he was only a shepherd boy, waited 20 years before finally becoming king.
These examples seem to fit within the context of number 3 above – “to wait for.” In contrast, the first- and second-best definitions do not refer at all to time passing while ‘waiting for’ something to occur, such as when a person at a bus stop waits for the bus to arrive at its scheduled time.
Rather they point to completely different and deeper meanings: serving, supplying the wants of, and formally calling on (the Lord).
Abraham, Joseph and David, although they had no choice but to wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises, did not sit idly by twiddling their thumbs and tapping their feet during those years. Surely, like anyone would, they expected their breakthroughs would come at any time, and they must have wondered what was taking so long. Meanwhile, they remained steadfast in serving the Lord, and called on Him, seeking His presence and His Word throughout each passing year. They pressed on through their circumstances, all the while believing He would do what he promised in due time.
Thus, the question to believers might be rephrased better as: “How much time do you spend attending to the Lord, supplying his wants, serving Him; and how often do you call on Him, to be in His presence?”
We wait in lines to obtain something or to complete a task when the wait is over and our turn comes. If we leave the line before getting to the end, we will not get what we came for. Being patient and persevering to stay in line will, most of the time, ensure the mission is accomplished. The groceries will be bagged, paid for and taken home, tickets will be bought, entrance will be granted, or the driver’s license will be issued, etc.
What is gained, however, by waiting on the Lord? According to Isaiah 40:31, those who do so shall renew their strength. Strength is renewed because we wait on (serve, call on) the Lord, not because we sit off to the side counting the minutes, hours or days, expecting Him to bless us with a bolt of energy and make us more comfortable while we sit!
We can wait on Him by obeying His commandments to love and by tending to the good works that he has appointed for us, doing everything as unto the Lord and not unto men. We call on Him to give honor and thanks for His great mercy, and to praise Him for his great glory.
Because the Lord is present in the praises of His people, we are strengthened, able to mount up by the power of the Holy Spirit to keep running to finish the race and receive the prize. Without becoming weary, we walk the straight and narrow road to eternal life through Jesus Christ.
For further study, see Charles H. Spurgeon’s Sermon No. 1756, Renewing Strength:
https://www.spurgeongems.org/vols28-30/chs1756.pdf
Faith Lutheran Church Warsaw, MO - LCMS 