Waiting on God
By: Sarah Hogue, Director of Children’s Ministries and Member Formation
Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” I often read this verse as a command to show patience. When we are praying for change or breakthrough in our lives, we need to trust in God’s timing. Waiting for the Lord means trusting that God sees a bigger picture that we cannot always see, and that His timing is what’s best for us.
While I believe all of that is true, I recently read that the Hebrew word for “wait” in this verse is Qavah. Qavah is not a passive verb. It means “to expect” or “to look for.” To “wait” in this way doesn’t mean sitting back to see what happens. It means actively waiting for God’s intervention; seeking it; expecting it. It is about so much more than being patient. Qavah calls for us to wait with hope and confidence that God’s will and God’s ways WILL prevail!
But there’s more. Qavah also has a second meaning: “to bind together” or “to be intertwined,” as in a rope. As I focused on this image, I realized that the only way to achieve active waiting is to be “intertwined” in a relationship with the very one we are expecting to intervene.
When we know the layers and depth of the meaning of Qavah it helps us see that in order to “wait for the Lord” we must be in close relationship with God. This is achieved by being devoted to prayer, studying Scripture, acts of worship, and active community with fellow believers. Essentially, we need to commit ourselves to God through devotion and obedience - that’s how we wait!
As we walk step by step with God, we expect His intervention in our lives. Whatever it is you are waiting for, He will work behind the scenes and shape circumstances in a way to bring about His plan. Sometimes the answer to prayer we are waiting for isn’t to change the circumstances around us, but rather for God to change our hearts. Whatever the result, we wait and hope and expect that God will act!
Waiting is not fun. We all have things we wait for and pray for consistently. I encourage you to actively wait and bind yourself together with our Lord, so that He may guide your steps. You will either find the answer you want or learn to want the answer that is right for you. Amid it all, you will find that the old saying is true: good things really do come for those who wait.