What does it really mean to wait on the Lord?
Does it mean you don’t do a thing until God makes the path clear?
Or
Does it mean being faithful to what God has already shown you…moving in that direction…while being open to his leading along the way?
Psalm 27:14 says,
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Pretty clear that we need to wait on God. And if you read the entire psalm (you can read it here) you will see that waiting on the Lord doesn’t mean not doing anything.
Here is where I got stuck…in case this resonates with you.
I had determined that prayer is part of the solution to everything. It is part of the solution because God is all powerful, knows everything and responds to prayer. That isn’t a bad conclusion…it is just tough in the implementation. When you pray, wait on God and see God’s answer your brain can develop what it believes to be a pattern that governs future behavior.
And what ends up happening is a lot of waiting, in the name of patience and faithfulness, and not enough execution of what one already knows God has told us to do. Because we think every decision needs the Lord’s intervention to bring clarity to the process. In reality, God has already shown us enough to move forward on some level.
You don’t have to wait on a sign for the things God has clearly commissioned us to do. In fact, to wait when God has said go can actually be unfaithfulness!
How to wait and move at the same time
What I have determined is to pray about everything, while moving in the direction God has called me. This keeps me from being stuck in my own head or from making excuses to my own inaction in the guise of faithfulness.
Have you ever struggled with this? Let’s talk in the comments!
One Response
Normally, if I’m waiting on the Lord to give me direction on some type of action before I make a move, I look for an open door. But honestly, I believe that through the reading and meditation of Scripture that God has already revealed His overall will for my life.