I don’t know about you, but waiting isn’t something I like to do very much. In fact, I tend to passionately “DISlike” waiting. I stand up and walk around. I crane my neck in the direction that I think what I’m waiting for might appear. I pace. I fiddle. I literally drive anyone waiting with me crazy.
Don’t believe it?
Just ask my husband. Or my mother. Or my children. Or . . . Well, I guess you could ask just about anyone who’s ever seen me wait!
But let’s face it: This problem isn’t so unique to me! Some people may wait better than I do, but none of us like it very much!
But if no one likes to wait, why does the Bible tell us numerous times to do just that? To wait upon the Lord?
There’s only one possible answer: It’s because it’s something God wants us to learn to do!
I have tried waiting upon the Lord a few times. Here is how it usually goes: God promises something, and I sit back and wait . . . Until a whole half a day has gone by. After all, who should be required to wait longer than that? Then I get up and start to crane my neck in the direction that I think the answer might appear. I begin asking those around me if there is any sign that what I am waiting for will come to pass. I start to “pace” by looking for ways of fixing the problem myself. And then I begin to fiddle-with doubt! Ultimately, I usually abandon the wait. I mean, after all, how long should someone be required to wait?
Or course, there are stories of people in the Bible having to wait a lot longer than half a day. Abraham, for example. He waited 25 years for the promised child. And then there were his ancestors, the Israelites. They waited 40 years to enter the Promised Land. And . . .
Yes, they did have to wait, but they weren’t necessarily very patient about it! Remember Abraham’s little fling with Hagar? And as for Israel, well they wouldn’t have had to wait 40 years if they hadn’t been so impatient in the first place! So I guess I’m not so different after all. It’s human to hate to wait.
Then I read Ps. 37:34 this morning, from the Message Bible, and there it was again, that command to wait: “Wait passionately for GOD, don’t leave the path.”
But why? And for how long? I mean, God, you gave me the promise 3 years ago when the whole mess blew up in my face, and now, 3 years later, things have only gotten worse! And what about the other promises-the one from 5 months ago, for example. We’re still waiting on that one, too! Oh Lord, why do I have to spend so much time waiting! I hate to wait!
Then my eyes were drawn back to the verse, and as I reread it, one word in particular caught my attention: PASSIONATELY! “Wait PASSIONATELY for GOD, don’t leave the path.” (Ps. 37:34)
Hum . . . Wait PASSIONATELY for the Lord. What does it mean to wait PASSIONATELY?
I wasn’t sure, so I pulled out my handy thesaurus and looked the word up. Here are some of the common synonyms that I found: “ardent”, “zealous”, “obsessive”, “fanatical”, and “fervent”.
Wait a minute: Does this mean I have to be ardent, zealous, obsessive, fanatical and fervent about waiting? Does this mean that I have to put my whole heart and soul into waiting?
Yes!
It means that while I wait upon the Lord, I am to be excited about it. I am to be zealous about it. I am to be fanatical that it will come to pass. I am to be obsessive about the fact that what He has said will someday come true.
Hey, this is actually good news! It means I don’t have to JUST “wait” anymore. I can actually “do” something instead! I can be zealous and I can be ardent; I can be fervent, I can be obsessive, and I can be fanatical!
This doesn’t leave much room for disbelief, does it?
What about it, friends? Why not try it? The next time God tells you to “wait”, put aside the doubt and “fanatically” hold on to the promise. Be zealous and fervent about it. Wait upon the Lord with ardency and obsessiveness. Wait PASSIONATELY for the Lord! Remember: “Those who WAIT upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will rise up on wings like eagles. They will walk and not grow weary, they will run and not be tired.” (Isaiah 40:31)
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Author and moderator for The Nugget Newsletter and Scriptural Nuggets website, www.scripturalnuggets.org , Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org .