Living Well in the Waiting

The writers of Scripture talk often about waiting on God. And in Christian circles you will often hear people say they are waiting on God.

The truth is we spend a lot of our lives waiting on things and we don't do it well. In fact, we often wait very poorly - whether it's in an office for an appointment or in line at a store or in traffic on a busy road.

And that can translate into how we wait for God as well. We don't do waiting on God well despite how much we talk about doing exactly that. Sometimes we get impatient and we decide to just do things ourselves our way. Or we get complacent and we do nothing while we wait.

Neither of these are what Scripture means when it talks about waiting. Often Scripture puts the idea of waiting with expecting and answer from God or expecting God to do something. And it definitely doesn't say that waiting is a time to sit back and do nothing.

So, what should waiting look like then? How are we supposed to wait?

When we're waiting on God for His timing for something there are three things that we should be doing.

1) God doesn't always give us the whole picture at once. We need to be doing what we already know to do while we wait for more from God.

2) Waiting well also requires us to trust God. We have to trust that God has the answer and that He has a plan. We have to trust that God will come through.

3) Finally, waiting well requires that we listen. We have to actually be listening for when God speaks. If we're not listening for His voice all our waiting may be in vain because we'll miss when God comes with His answer that we've been waiting for.


How are you doing at waiting?

What does waiting usually look like for you?

Are you currently waiting on God for something?

Are you doing what you already know to do while you're waiting?

Are you trusting God?

Are you listening carefully so you hear God when He tells you what you're waiting for and brings an end to your waiting?