Waiting on God is an interesting phenomenon.
I’ve heard that phrase used my whole life. I’ve heard it used as a code word in corporate worship for “we don’t know what to do right now.”
I’ve seen it used as a prayer. And I’ve seen it used by young people who are scared to make a decision and need someone to blame for their inaction.
But what does “waiting on the Lord” really mean? We can’t just abolish the idea because it is very prevalent in Scripture:
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:13-14).
“The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him” (Lamentations 3:25).
What Are You Waiting For?
I know many of you have big decisions in your life: Who should I marry? Should I take that job? Are we supposed to move to that city? How am I going to pay my bills?
Here’s my take on it: The voice of God has already been heard loud and clear through Scripture. We already know what it is we’re supposed to do. As we “wait” on the Lord, we should be getting busy with God’s will.
Waiting on God is about actively seeking Him and doing His will.
It’s in the act of obeying God that we will hear His voice clearer for our specific life situations. Many of us would rather sit on our hands and wait for an angelic visitation with instructions from Heaven on what our next move is.
That’s not going to happen. If God were to reveal His plan to us like that, we’d do what Jonah did. The plans of God for our lives would freak us out.
When we don’t take steps to actively fulfill the will of God today, we are removing ourselves from the ability to hear His voice.
Do God’s Will
What is the will of God for today? Here’s some examples:
- Serve/give to the poor
- Love orphans and widows in their distress
- Talk to somebody about Jesus
- Create something that will help others
- Worship
- Make art to reflect the beauty of God
- Pray for someone who doesn’t know Jesus
- Lead a friend to Christ
- Talk to strangers
- Smile
- Make a disciple
- Go on a missions trip
- Start a Bible study
- Call a friend and encourage them
- Give something away
The list could continue.
The bottom line: If you’re struggling to hear what the will of God is for your life, stop listening and go do what God has already said. It’s in the act of doing that you’ll hear. Love for God is about obedience to what He’s commanded.
But David, are you saying we shouldn’t pray and seek God’s counsel? Hardly. That should be step one. When you have a big decision to make, ask God. The act of going to God first glorifies Him.
Pray and keep praying. But make sure your waiting is an active wait. There is too much of God’s will to be done for the people of God to sit in our comfortable churches awaiting instructions.
One final note on decision making: God has given you gifts and filled you with the Holy Spirit.
In other words, He has already given you permission to go make a difference and make decisions. Go and be the light of the world.
Go and do what you’re passionate about.
Do it for the glory of God.
Do it for the Kingdom of God on the earth.
Go take risks, make mistakes, learn, and put yourself out there.
Wait on God. But be active. We need it.
What are your thoughts? What does “waiting on God” mean to you? Join the discussion in the comments. It’s just better that way.
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
David,
Thank you so much for this word. I have been struggling with waiting for the last two years. I was blessed with having a pastor speak to me about getting up and getting moving. He explained to me pretty much what you have said here. He said Instead of just sitting by idle waiting to here from God, get to doing what I knew to do. Through this i have started a ministry in our community to join the local churches to fight against our overwhelming drug problem. It is funny, once I started moving God seemed to open the doors that answered my questions.
Wow, Curtis, that sounds awesome. Way to go! How is the ministry doing?
It is just really getting started. I have an in with our local community television station so I am shooting a 30 min show that will air on Wednesday evenings. It will have a short lesson and then I am offering time to local pastors to speak about their churches and what they are doing in our community. A couple of things I have planned for 2014 are a worship service at our local school auditorium, a prayer walk and a tent revival. For the worship service I will have four local worship teams come in and a couple young pastors from the area and make an evening of it. The prayer walk will hopefully include people from surrounding churches to walk a circle around our community ( about 3 miles) praying over our town. I have already had a good response from local pastors on this. The tent revival is something I have wanted to see happen for some time. Four nights with four different speakers and worship music located in a lot in the center of town. We have prayed for God to move in our community but now it is time to move. I call the ministry, God’s One Community. The purpose is to break down the walls inside the church so we can reach those outside the church.
So great! Way to go, man.
I have been asking today the same question. Here is the story: I have a friend who’s bible has been falling to pieces and you cannot separate her from it. It is not a spendy bible, but she is very familiar with it and when she saw I had my bible put back together by a local book binder about a year ago for more than you could purchase one new, she asked for the contact info, but never did get it repaired. I asked her about it and she said it just did not seem like a wise way to spend money, but yet she uses it still all the time to pray and counsel and encourage and instruct others with excellence and His help, as well as working full time outside the church. So I wanted to do this for her and did not have the funds, or support to do it, and the thought was she might feel uncomfortable if it was done by a group for her. So I let it go, but I have been praying and talking to God about it all along about how I feel about it and if it is His Will would He somehow provide what I estimated as $200 to repair it, and other than that I have let it go, but remain in “waiting” while accepting. Then my husband comes home and gives me $250 cash with no strings attached, and this is a lot for us and unusual as well. Also I was able to find and return a couple of things I needed to at the store, so we have about $325 more now than before the day started and it makes me happy and I know what to do and not to do with it and with permission to proceed. So I have put a call into the professional who restores the books to see if they are available and if the price is reasonable at $200 or less, and will go from there. The bible will be nice for her if repaired, or she could replace it with a new one, and could pass hers down to a family member perhaps someday. if she does not want to do it, that also is cool, as I will pray from there for much help in not just spending the money on random things. So I thank God for everything and also ask ” Is this from you?” Even if the bible does not get repaired, I beleive the whole interaction and work of my heart and others is something He works within.. We have a promise that He can put the (best) desires in our hearts and that He is our help in all kinds of situations. Sorry this is not short, and it may all be coincidence, but the title of your post makes me smile once again today.. He IS. and Loves and Instructs and Listens and Speaks and Acts like no Other 🙂
Cool story, Rhonda! It’s great to see you acting on what you hear from God.
God has brought widows and orphans into our hearts, lives and home. Hearing and knowing His Word has helped us know what to do in these relationships. His Spirit is was sustains the actual day in and day out living of it. It is living and active and He does have His Way in all of it. I am thankful for the life He has given and for HIs Kindness to us. God works, we wait (on Him, for Him, because of Him we are intertwined together and we come into His loving obedience and provision/providence, whether our circumstances have brought us high or low)
Great article and so relevant to those in the ‘waiting’ process!
One day when visiting family,I asked my niece what she was planning to do now that she had graduated from High school…..she answered”I am waiting for God to tell me what to do”…….so I asked her….”What are you doing while you are waiting?”….she was not very happy with that question!
Hahaha – great question, Lorraine! It’s definitely what she needs to hear 🙂
Wow! I have a much clearer understanding of what waiting on God is all about especially now that I am in the ‘waiting’ position. I think we assume waiting on God as we do nothing is more godly when that is not the case at all. God made us in His image and likeness. He calls us co- workers and I don’t think working implies doing nothing. I am all out to actively wait for God because He is ever speaking and instructing me 🙂
Gloria – I wonder – if the “waiting” position ever ends. It always seems like we’re waiting for something, doesn’t it?
Thanks for your ministration on waiting for God. I learnt a lot from it. But I have question: Does waiting on God involve fasting and prayer? Cheers.