Waiting on the Lord

My blog friend Stephanie recently posted and quoted Psalm 40. I think that the first verse of that psalm speaks to the heart of trusting in the Lord when David writes:

"I waited patiently for the Lord"

If I have learned anything in difficult seasons it is that waiting on the Lord develops patience.. and that patience may not change my situation but eventually will change my attitude. Consider this passage of scripture:

For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:10-12)

I love how it says that God's promises are obtained through patience. This scripture also speaks to God being just and not forgetting the work of His children as they faithfully minister as they wait. I think that this idea of loving and ministering while we wait gets to the heart of what it means to wait on the Lord.

I heard it said a number of years ago that waiting on the Lord is not like waiting on a bus.. it is not a passive activity. Waiting on the Lord is an active process where we continue to minister.. continue to love.. and continue to trust the Lord as we pray. I love how patience is included as part of the Holy Spirit's influence in our lives:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)

This passage speaks volumes about waiting on the Lord. As we wait the Spirit works in us.. in a sense this kind of fruit can only be developed during a period of actively waiting on the Lord. I think that any other form of waiting will bear a different kind of fruit.. bitter fruit.. angry fruit.. fruit that leads one away from the Lord.

If you find yourself in a difficult season of your life.. and I am currently in one.. my encouragement to you is to keep praying.. keep loving.. keep ministering to others.. and keep trusting in the Lord. You may not get what you want but you may get what you need.