I hate to wait!
I hate waiting in queues, at the hospital, at the bank, at a restaurant. I hate waiting for people to show up, for grades to be posted especially after the original release date, for food to get cooked when I’m super hungry, for people to finish a simple task…tell me to wait and you just pulled the trigger to my head!
But there’s only one time that I don’t mind waiting: when I’m occupied.
Put me in a queue and give me a book (one that has Super Glue abilities) and I would love to wait for as long as there are still pages left to read in that book.
Tell me you’ll be here in an hour and give me a movie or series and I would wish you had come two hours later or you probably never came!
You can get me to wait if, and only if, I’m occupied!
All this came to mind one afternoon while I was doing dishes and as usual listening to my endless list of songs. The song playing was Juanita Bynum’s I Don’t Mind Waiting.
At some point, she explained the difference between waiting on God and waiting in God.
There’s a difference! Those who wait on God can choose to either wait in God or just wait idly.
But it is better to wait in God while waiting on Him!
I’ll tell you why:
See it is our nature to not want to wait too long for things that we deeply desire.
Like when we pray to God for anything that we so deeply desire and God’s answer to our prayer is to wait or maybe we’re waiting for Him to answer and we’re so eager to see the things we prayed for come to pass.
What do we do in that period of waiting?
Do we sit around worrying whether God will really answer our prayers?
Do we forget about what we prayed for and just go on with our lives?
Do we continue praying, praising, and worshipping?
Take a minute to evaluate what you’ve been doing while waiting for God to reach out to you.
Like I said earlier it is better to wait in God while waiting on Him!
How do we wait in God?
We pray. We praise. We read The Word.
We pray thanking God for who He is, acknowledging that He knows what’s best for us and that His timing is perfect!
That He doesn’t withhold any good thing from those who do what is right (Psalm 84:11)
That He loves us and that those who trust in the Lord will rise up and soar like an eagle (Isaiah 40:31)
We praise Him and give Him thanks because He’s a prayer answering God (Isaiah 65:24); because He knows our hearts’ desires and He knows our needs even before we ask.
Then we read the Word to remind ourselves of who He is and the things He’s done in the past. He’s the same God yesterday, today, and forever! There are so many encouraging words in the Bible that will lift us up by revealing to us who God is and what He can do. If God sent His only Son who He loved so dearly to die for us, why would He withhold anything from us when we ask?
So the next time you are waiting on God, wait in Him! Trust in Him! Tell Him you don’t mind waiting on Him!