Wait, it’s a simple word used in many different ways. It can be used to describe someone waiting in line at the store (boring) or waiting the arrival of a close friend (exciting). One is a mindless, inactive state, whereas the other is actively anticipating the arrival. I would take the second one over the first any time. Waiting in line is something many of us are not good at, we want to be taken care of right away. Waiting on anything is hard, but some of the waits have greater reward.
Many of us like to do things while waiting, it helps pass the time and it gives us something to do so we don’t get as frustrated by the wait. The wait is so much longer when we simply sit or stand and aren’t actively doing anything. I’m currently waiting on the Lord for His leading, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be inactively waiting. I’ll continue to serve and do what He has for me here. As the song by John Waller goes,
“I’m waiting
I’m waiting on you, Lord
And I’m peaceful
I’m waiting on you, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord.”
The hard part in all this is that when we are in the waiting process, we want to move or make things happen, and we sometimes jump ahead of God. The other day I was at the grocery store and the lady in front of me was a dollar short, so she sends her son out to the car to see if he could find a dollar in change. I was about ready to pull a dollar out of my wallet when she decided to have the cashier take something out so I wouldn’t have to wait (I wasn’t in a hurry, I just don’t like to stand & wait). I wanted to take the matter into my hands and speed things up. I’m always trying to do that and Vicki is always reminding me to relax and be patient, especially when I can’t do anything about it.
We know God is moving us on, but we must wait. We feel called to go back to the local church, but until that time we will continue to serve where He’s placed us. As we serve, we also appreciate your continued support, both through prayers and finances. Our support account is getting low so we appreciate you sticking with us in support of our ministry here at AIM. It’s a vital ministry, and God is using it to impact many lives for the Kingdom. So we will continue to serve, to worship, to wait and to trust.
I just prayed for all of you!
I once heard someone describe this waiting in terms likening it to a waiter at a restaurant.
My parents once, on vacation, went to a fine restauruant where the wait staff would stand around the edges of the room, and whenever you left the table for whatever reason, they were right there to get your chair, replace all of the siverware, refill your glass, and clean your place of any crumbs or whatever.
This is what I picture, we wait expectantly just as you said, then when we see God move, we jump in and use the abilities that He has given to us to do what He needs us to do.