Why is Waiting on God a Way of Life?

But those who wait on the Lord
shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings as eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)


I used to think that the person who would do all of this soaring in the sky was doing it AFTER his waiting was over. So as a waiter, I sat and hoped and prayed. Weary, I read how one day I would run and walk without the burdens of wondering and waiting.

The other night as I sat under a crescent moon on my porch stoop, I saw it all differently.

Now.

Because although we do have to wait, and often painfully long, God is a God of now.

He is calling us to live now.

Even in our waiting, He doesn’t go on vacation or cease to listen to our cries or leave His throne.

He grows us.

We grow while we wait.

In fact, my waiting has produced some of the best growth and spiritual character. In spite of waiting I can still live today. I can still experience joy and contentment (as the Apostle Paul wrote of). I am learning in the waiting room of God. I cling to Him. I have also felt the needs of His people, praying often for others who must wait, dear friends old and new who have asked me to pray for their really tough circumstances.

Last night I promised God that when He answered one of my prayers in this waiting room, that I would not feel as though I was done with needing Him or trusting Him. I promised that I would not grow cocky or overly proud or think I had accomplished anything. I told Him that I would still love Him, still seek His face, and still know desperately that I need Him. Always. And that I can do no good thing without Him. I told Him I would never want what He has taught me to be taken away from me.

I felt as though the clouds of my mind had parted. It was a growth spurt.

Today, as I was going about my usual writing and wondering when God was going to act, I received a wonderful surprise. I received an answer. I was given a writing assignment from a publishing house to write for them! I rejoiced. I wanted to run, to soar.

Hallelujah! At last!

Happy, I was eager to celebrate with a hunk of chocolate or drink that special tea or even open the bottle of champagne. God had heard my cry, God provided me with work!

Yes!

But the truth is, this is not my first time to have to cling to God and wait nor will it be my last. I still have other areas of my life to wait over.

Yet this time around, instead of wanting to hurry up the wait or push it aside or hold my breath until it leaves, I'm learning that waiting upon God is not at all ONLY a season. The truth is, it is a way of life.

Before I thought once my prayer was answered, I could kick up my heels and I'd be done with waiting. (I used to be young once and I think youthful minds think this way.)

Now I see the value in waiting, the beauty in growing, the honesty of a cultivated-by-God heart.

Dear God, I am your servant. I belong to you.

And I wait.

Because you are a God worth waiting for.

~*~

Are you waiting?
What are you waiting for today?
What do you want to learn as you wait upon Him?

Actively waiting to be inspired

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time---waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God---it changes me." ~ C. S. Lewis


"Help me!" I cried out to God the other day. My prayer was similar to the one I'd uttered the day before that. And that.

Motivation to do even the things you enjoy (work-wise) can falter when you don't feel like your efforts are making any difference. I wondered if I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. If so, why wasn't I getting results?

If I had high responses to my online courses or writing workshops, if my agent would write to say he'd sold another manuscript of mine, then I would have something to cheer about. Those accolades would make me feel I was headed in the correct direction; I was doing something right.

But the ground was bare. The fig tree was not blossoming. The air was cold with drizzle.

I wanted God to point out to me what I needed to do to make things happen. I wished God would steer me on a path of success.

I'd been waiting to get my mojo back for weeks.

"Where are you in this, God? Help!"

My computer only blinked at me.

I'd like to think there was a great roar of thunder from the sky and that the heavens opened, but none of that happened. All that came to me was in the form of a little fizzle from a sparkler: Plug away. Do what you do. Keep at it. Do you think others have always had it easy?

I pushed myself. I sent out announcements about my new writing courses and upcoming book events even though I didn't feel like it. I updated my three blogs and chose new templates for two of them.

Pretty soon I had an idea for a magazine article. I started to write. A student signed up for my next online writing course. I had another idea and wrote a blog post. The comments from my followers showed me that I was not a has-been, I still had something meaningful to say.

Then I realized. It was one of those "a-ha" moments.

Sometimes the answer to prayer comes in form of the doing. One foot in front of the other. While I want God to pick me off the floor, He is telling me that I have two functional legs and to get up, get moving! Head in a direction---the best one that you know of at this time----and use your talents. God has never left; trust Him.

I thought it worked the other way around. God would supply the encouragement by sending me people for my workshops, ideas and steps to take, then I would be motivated by the success. Instead, it was getting up, doing something even though I had no delight in me. The delight and the success followed later.

What do you do when you feel weak? How to you keep your head up when your world appears bleak? How do you actively wait on God?

"Hear my prayer, O Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy,
In the day of trouble I will call to you,
for you will answer me." Psalm 86: 6-7