Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!
PSALM 27:14 (NKJV)
During Advent it’s good to ask ourselves, ‘How am I waiting?’ One of the universal experiences common to human beings is that of waiting. Students take exams and then must wait for the results. Expectant mothers have to wait for their baby’s arrival. The greater part of our lives seems to be occupied with waiting for the next thing to happen: for the bus that never comes, the mortgage to be approved, or that elusive job opening to materialise. And, of course, we can either wait impatiently, like a child on a long car journey continually asking, ‘Are we there yet?’ Or we can wait creatively making use of the time available to do something positive.
As Christians waiting plays a big part in our lives. Spiritual growth and maturity take time. Answers to prayer don’t always come immediately. And then there’s the waiting for Jesus’s second coming to usher in a world where there will be no more death, crying, or pain (Revelation 21:4). We too can either wait impatiently or creatively, and interestingly, the Bible speaks a great deal about waiting. In the Old Testament, several Hebrew words are translated as ‘wait’, each of which has a slightly different nuance. Three such words are:
chakah, meaning ‘to long for’1 as in Psalm 33:20 (ESVUK): ‘Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.’
sabar, meaning ‘to watch with a hopeful expectation’2 as in Psalm 145:15 (KJV): ‘The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.’
qavah, meaning ‘waiting, enduring’ conveys the image of rope being twisted together to strengthen3 as in Isaiah 40:31(ESVUK): ‘…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.’
An understanding of these words provides a wider perspective and greater depth to the waiting we inevitably have to go through. We can wait with a longing for God to act in our lives, which requires trust. Godly waiting is not a hopeless resignation, but a hopeful expectation: a firm belief that God is sovereign and that his timing is perfect. As we long for the sovereign God to act in hopeful expectation our faith and trust in him is strengthened.
This type of waiting is not passive but an active choice to use the time and space God gives us to produce fruit in due season.
What is it you are waiting for, and how are you waiting? This Advent let’s be strengthened by longing for God with hope, knowing it will produce precious fruit.
Prayer
Loving Father, teach us to prayerfully and patiently wait on you, and be still before you, as you work in our lives, In Jesus’s name, Amen.