Why Wait?

WHY WAIT?

Ps 27:14-"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Hos 12:6- "Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually." Isa 40:31 "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." Isa 30:18-"And 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."

Ps 37:9-"For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth (as Jesus said of the "meek"?)." Jn 5:3-"In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water." I Cor 9:13- "Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Gal 5:5-"For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith." Hab 2:3-"For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."

I Pet 3:20-"...when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing.." Lk 2:25-"And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him." Lam 3:26-"It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." Pr 8:34-"Blessed is the man that heareth me, (wisdom) watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors." II Thes 3:5-"And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ." Ro 8:25- "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."

Isa 49:22,23-"Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall (be vindicated) not be ashamed that wait for me." Isa 26:8-"Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee." Isa 33:2-"O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble."

Ro 8:23-"And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. "Ps 130:5-"Wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope." AND JESUS SAID: "wait for the promise of the Father..." (Acts 1:4); "Tarry ye here and watch with me"(Mt 26:38, Mk14:34); "In your patience possess ye your souls!"(Lk 21:19).

It is ludicrous to speak of "waiting" apart from "Patience"! And, just as "waiting" produces the virtue (Character of the Spirit) "Patience", so Jesus teaches "Patience" is the "means-by-which" the Living Word produces "Fruit" (Spiritual Character) in us! "But that ("Word/seed") on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience!"-Lk 8:15. Somewhere it is written, "He also serves who only stands and waits!". I believe that!

Just as we cannot discuss waiting apart from patience, we must learn that "waiting on the Lord" IS serving (worshiping) Him! It is no coincidence that we call one serving another a "waiter". So "waiting" is "serving". If we ask the question "why wait?", we might just as well ask "why serve?"! But in truth, as we take a hard, long look at what God has shown us, it's not so much we who serve, but GOD WHO SERVES US! We have not served God as He has us! We have not waited upon God as He has on us! Indeed, "longsuffering" (which means "waiting with patience") is a Divine Attribute, not human! But there's so much more! It's the attitude, the spirit that counts!

Only that which is gladly-given is joyfully-received! Love Lives to Give and is Willing to Wait! That Love is Willing to Wait is "GRACE"! As it is our honor to "receive" from God, so it is our privilege to wait-upon (serve) Him. And God never asks anyone to wait alone! (Just as He never expected us to be alone!). Indeed, we can only return His Love WITH Him! It is written, "...In thy presence is fulness of joy...!"-(Ps 16:11). Nothing Jesus asks or expects of us is remotely possible "apart from Him"! And all that might be given, done for or submitted to the Lord is unaccecptable except as in the Spirit of the Joy of the Lord!

Until we Christ-ians learn how to embrace (LOVE) the cross, be grateful for the discipline of our Heavenly Father, and reckon ourselves dead to this world, we might as certainly perish from the "Way" without even knowing the Joy of "standing, watching, waiting & serving" the Lord as those who were "called out" (of Egypt) for that same purpose. Those people dropped and rotted "where they were" for vain efforts apart from God! They "waited" in vain because they "waited" without God, though He Walked, Talked & Lived in their midst, among them! We must learn from them that to "wait on the Lord" is to "wait WITH the Lord", or it is no Real "service", but vain religion! [Pagan]

God sees the heart of man, and looks for His Spirit there. If the Soul of God (The Holy Spirit) does not Breathe in the heart of a man, he has not been "Quickened" by the Power of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! And if It (He) does, then waiting and serving Him is more Privelege and Honor and Joy than any man has a right to, were it not for Jesus Christ!