Wait on the Lord
What does it mean to wait on the Lord? Some may think waiting on the Lord means passively waiting for God’s instructions on what to do with their lives. But when scripture says to wait on the Lord, it doesn’t mean that we are waiting for God to catch up with us. God is the traffic light forging us along but in His own time.
Look at the prophet Elijah. When his life had been threatened by Jezebel, he immediately retreated and fled into the wilderness. God did not chastise him or force him to turn him back to face Jezebel. God gave Elijah rest. (1 Kings 19 5-7). The incident that prompted Elijah to flee into the wilderness was his execution of the 450 prophets of Baal and Asherah. Sometimes, in the excitement of our call from God the temptation to overvalue ourselves and become consumed with the mission can be the result. A distinction should be made between ambition and productivity. The world heavily markets ambition as the ticket to success. Ambition is the desire; productivity is the fruit. The world does not make room for productivity because it is too consumed with the appearance of relevance or value. The call of God is not a singular event but often times generational. Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:6 puts it like this: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” Our God-given assignment is always bigger than us. Jesus was sent to save all men so God’s priority will always mankind and not just the one man. The world tells us that ambition is the key to a life of meaning but this story of Elijah delivers the opposite message. When the Angel of the Lord awakened Elijah and told him to eat and drink, scriptures says“he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights.” (1 Kings 19:7) Elijah found strength in rest. Waiting on the Lord will empower us by His Holy Spirit to do what naturally takes six months to complete in half the time or less!
Let us practice the art of waiting on the Lord. Waiting on the Lord is not a passive activity but a powerful one.
When you come to a place of unusual difficulty, extraordinary failure, or confusion, it could be sign that God wants to give a fresh word for the new season He’s preparing you to enter. Rest, it is God’s gift to His beloved.
Psalm 127:2 It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Isaiah 40:31 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.
