If you have ever been a waiter or a waitress you know what it’s like to take someone’s order. You have to wait on them to make up their mind about what they want to eat. You have to watch over all the needs of the customer while they are waiting for their food and it’s nice to check on them consistently to see if they have any needs. The job is not complete until the customer walks out the door of that restaurant.
A friend of mine had worked as a waitress most of her life. She told me that she felt like God spoke to her about waiting on Him. She said she felt like God reminded her that waiting doesn’t necessarily mean you are not active while you wait. Yes, there are times when you have to be still and wait but there are also times when you can actively do other things while you are waiting.
I think of what she said and believe I understand what she meant. I was a waitress when I was in my teens. There were times when the restaurant wasn’t very busy and I’d have to wait for a customer to arrive. I’d keep busy while I was waiting. I would make sure the tables were clean and tend to other things while I was waiting. Once a customer did arrive I had to give them the menu and then wait for them to tell me what they wanted. Sometimes the waiting didn’t take a long time and other times it seemed the customer was very slow about making their decision.
I think that is a good way for us to respond to the Lord when He tells us to wait on Him. We can look forward to God’s way of tending to our prayers. We know He does not make mistakes. Patience is required of us while we wait for Him to do things we cannot control. We wouldn’t really want the control anyway.
God knows how to make every circumstance to work together for our good. God is wiser than us.
I heard about a couple of families that are facing the deaths of a loved one. They know that if there is no miracle from God it is expected that their loved one will be leaving this old earth. The diagnosis has been given and the family is in waiting. Oh…….. what a time. It isn’t a pleasant time. It is something that we can’t control. We have to leave it all in the hands of God.
Even if all the people involved know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and they know there is a better home a waiting for their loved one they are not always able to think about the reunion in the sky. The one leaving the earth may be thinking about the fact that they are leaving people they dearly love. The ones that realize the person that is terminally ill probably won’t be with them much longer have sorrowful thoughts, too. It is not a pleasant experience.
Still we must wait on the Lord trusting that He has everything under control and He will make all things work out for good.
See some passages below that mention waiting on the Lord ~
Isaiah 40:31 says this:
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Psalm 27:14Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 37:7, 7Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Isaiah 30:18, 18And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.