Wait (verb): to look forward expectantly; to stay where one is or to delay action until a particular time or something happens; to hold oneself in readiness.
Wait (noun): a state or attitude of watchfulness and expectancy
The world has been in a state of waiting for a few months now, with more waiting on the horizon. But this wait feels different than any wait I’ve experienced before. This time, I am uncertain when the wait will be over or what needs to happen for the wait to end.
All this waiting naturally led me to explore the word WAIT. Especially from a biblical perspective. Many scriptures reference “wait for the Lord”. Here are a few of them…
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5
But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7
I always thought of wait as a passive word, barely even a “real” verb. Wait reminds me of words or phrases like “passing the time” or “holding pattern” or “stay in place”. Common phrases like wait a minute, wait up, waiting for the other shoe to drop, and time waits for no one spring to mind.
But what I’ve come to appreciate in recent months, is that while wait may be a non-active state of my physical being, it is an active state of my mental or spiritual being. That is, I may be sitting still, but my soul is stirred up when I “wait for the Lord.” The new words that are now in my synonym list for wait include poised, suspense, abide, and anticipate.
As God always does when I study a word for a blog post, He sent me images, metaphors, and music to deepen my understanding. A friend recently introduced me to the music of Shane & Shane, and as I scrolled through their YouTube videos, I quickly stumbled upon “I Will Wait for You (Psalm 130)”. You can listen to it HERE.
As I pondered the word wait, I kept coming back to the same question:
What am I waiting for?
Wait, by definition, usually implies for a limited time and a definite purpose. But this wait during the pandemic seems to have an uncertain timeframe and a mixed bag of purposes. We’ve gone from waiting in lines at coffee shops, waiting in traffic, waiting for the bus… to just waiting. Waiting at home. Waiting in place. Waiting for “something” to change. Waiting for the curve to flatten. Waiting for a vaccine. Waiting for warmer weather. Perhaps even waiting for a miracle.
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, when I asked someone “How are you?”, the most common reply was “BUSY!”
Now, the replies are a lot more varied. It’s almost like we don’t know how to answer the question if we aren’t busy. The responses I’ve heard include OK, not OK, well, stir-crazy, scared, frustrated, weary, stressed, safe, healthy, grateful, content, disappointed, angry, and tired of waiting.
This new list of responses feels more “real”. Honest. Authentic. Vulnerable. This waiting has been a blessing, as we’ve opened up to each other in new ways. We absolutely need to in order to stay connected.
If we can’t use “busy” to define ourselves, then who are we?
We are people in waiting. Hoping. Expectant. Poised for action. Our previously overbooked calendars may now be on a holding pattern of emptiness, but our souls have a storm brewing!
And all this waiting has now led up to fishing season. I can’t think of a better description for waiting than the act of fishing with a bobber, can you? We put the line in with a gentle splash, then sit still, relax our bodies. But our mind stays alert to the bobber, poised for action and hopeful. Our soul gets encouraged with anticipation of what surprise lurks below the water’s surface. We look forward expectantly to the big catch.
And then the first dip of the bobber occurs. A small ripple is sent off in all directions…but we can’t act too soon! We can sense the wait may be over, but we need a stronger sign. We lean forward a little, squint our eyes intently on the bobber, and wait some more.
But now with greater expectancy, hope, and anticipation. It’s that moment right there – where the first bob has happened, and the full submersion is coming – that moment best relates to waiting for the Lord. A point in our lives where we have taken some sort of action (thrown the line in), sensed God’s presence (the dip of the bobber), and now wait.
I’ve experienced this moment many times in my life.
- A step in faith is taken, the first ripple goes out, and I wait for the Lord. I lean forward with eager anticipation for what God is going to do with my step in faith.
- A prayer is lifted up, the bobber dips once, and I wait for the Lord. I turn my ear in hopeful expectancy for His answer.
- An act of kindness is given, a tug on the heartstring is felt, and I wait for the Lord. I may never know exactly where the ripples hit the shoreline, but I trust God in the wait.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:24
“Wait” used to seem like such a non-important, every-day, ordinary kind of word. Only by studying it have I realized its greatness, power, and peace.
One other image that popped up as I studied this word: Lady-in-Waiting
This “role” is typically a female personal assistant at a court, royal, or feudal, who attends to a royal woman or high-ranking noblewoman.
Perhaps incredibly early in my faith walk, I saw myself as the main character in this example, and I would treat God like my lady-in-waiting during prayers.
“Could you bring me….”
“Would you do this for me….
“I want this….”
The closer I grew in relationship with Christ, the more I realized – I’m in the wrong role here! At some point, I not only accepted but embraced my role as the one “in waiting” and Christ as my royalty.
It is now my absolute joy to “attend to” Him. To wait on Him. To wait for Him. Waiting on Him is how I fulfill His purposes.
Sometimes He takes me to a refreshing stream or green pasture to wait for Him. Sometimes I wait in the midst of a raging storm. I wait for His next fulfilled promise, His next miracle, His next assignment for me, His next act of forgiveness.
I am not waiting for the joy to come, rather, I am experiencing joy in the waiting!
I think that is the secret of a true fisherman as well. He is not waiting for the joy of the big catch; he has learned to experience joy in the waiting. Returning home “empty-handed” has no bearing on whether or not he enjoyed his time fishing.
When did Jesus “wait”?
He waited for 33 years – living an “ordinary” life as a carpenter, son, friend, before He started his ministry we read about in the Gospels. Thirty-three years of waiting. Hopefully expectant on His Father’s will, trusting completely in His Father’s timing.
Waiting on the Lord is an act of faith. A demonstration of trust.
Jesus also waited three days from His last breath on the cross to His resurrected reveal outside of the tomb to His disciples. The wait was a necessary part of fulfilling His purposes and the prophecies.
But perhaps this three-day wait was more impactful for the disciples. They needed the first-hand, gut-wrenching feeling of despair one experiences when separated from Christ. They needed that excruciating pain to fuel the passion and the compassion necessary to have an authentic message of hope to carry to the world.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14