Waiting (I)

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

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When you hear waiting, what comes to your mind?

During my undergraduate programme, my fellow course mates and I were often referred to as the “indomie generation” by some of our lecturers. This term describes a generation that desires instant gratification, lacks patience and is unwilling to follow a process to achieve their goals.

Growing up with smartphones has amplified our desire for immediate results compared to previous generations, and our impatience seems to worsen as time goes by.

However, the posture of a believer is independent of which generation they belong to. As God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, a believer’s posture is one of waiting.

Waiting involves believing with an expectation – that we will do nothing outside God’s counsel and we will be patient till He comes to help us.

I will categorise waiting into two types.

The first type has to do with our day-to-day activities, where we are living each day carefully, based on God’s instruction(s), and are sensitive to His Spirit so that we will do all things to the glory of His name.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life–your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life–and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.

Romans 12:1, Message Translation

These are the things we wait on God daily for:

1. Counsel: The word “counsel” is derived from the word “counseilen”, which means “to give or offer advice, admonish or instruct”. God desires to instruct us. This is something we must desire daily.

In Psalm 81:11-14, we see how God felt when the children of Israel disregarded His counsel.

But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! Would soon subdue their enemies, And turn My hand against their adversaries.

Psalm 81:11-14; NKJV

We can get God’s counsel by daily waiting on Him in prayer, study of the Word and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit.

2. Strength: The Scriptures say God daily loads us with benefits. One such benefit is renewed strength. To be renewed suggests repetition or periodically, not just one-time occurence.

Therefore, we can wait on the Lord daily for Him to strengthen our inner man so that we can do the work both physically and spiritually. And we wait on God for renewal of strength through payers.

Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation! Selah.

Psalm 68:19; NKJV

Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

3. Daily Bread: Matthew 6: 11 says, “Give us this day our daily bread”. This connotes that we have to rely on Him daily to receive the bread for each day. This bread is both physical and spiritual. It’s needed to nourish our spirit, soul and body.

So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

Deuteronomy 8:3; NKJV

There are many other things we can wait on God for, and they will be discussed in another post. For now, know this: we must know God as our Source. Knowing Him this way will make it easy for us to rely on Him daily to supply us with wisdom, instructions, counsel, strength, insights, and much.

For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

Psalm 36:9; NKJV