“As fearful people we have a hard time waiting, because fear urges us to get away from where we are…The more afraid we are, the harder waiting becomes.” Henri J.M. Nouwen in his essay ‘Finding my way Home.”
Our fear tells us that our desires and needs are not going to be met, it tells us that God cannot be trusted and is going to let us down, so we must “do something” ;“get going”; “don’t just sit there and wait.” We don’t wait on His promises and never see the impossible to our faith.
How do we go about waiting?
Wait together. Elizabeth and Mary waited together to see the promises given to them fulfilled, they were there to affirm each other’s waiting, helping each other remember that it is worth waiting for. Family and community are there to affirm and support the promises we have received, we gather around a promise in prayer. Community is where the flame of hope is kept burning, where we continue to trust God, no matter what.
Let your waiting be shaped in an alertness to the Word of God. The word shapes us and prepares us to receive that which we are waiting for. The Word comes into our lives and its power is released to shape us into what God is preparing us for. As we see the times approaching, we stand ready, alert, tuned into the word of God so that we will stand victorious in all that is going to happen.
Wait for passion to be revealed in you. In waiting we move from enduring all that happens to us to passionately living through it with an eternal perspective in mind, awaiting the eternal promises we hold to. The very act of waiting shapes us for its fulfilment, the very act of waiting reveals the passionate love of God for us, his love is revealed to us in new ways. We learn to patiently endure that which we cannot control, trusting in Him and His love.
Wait longer than expected. The greatest challenge in receiving great things from God is holding out for the last half hour.
“To lie and cringe beneath one’s load means death, but life and power await all those who dare to rise above. Our burdens are our wings; on them we soar to higher realms of grace; without them we must ever roam on plains of undeveloped faith (for faith grows by exercise in circumstances impossible.” Mary Butterfield
In Psalm 40, David encourages us to “wait patiently for the Lord.” He describes the benefits of waiting on the Lord:
- He is lifted out of His despair
- Set his feet on a rock
- Given a firm place to stand
- Put a new song of praise in his mouth
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Wow i really learned a lot from this post and “what you waiting for?”
God bless you