The Wait of Preparation

 Psalm 130:5

I wait for The LORD; my soul does wait, and in His Word I put my hope. 

Wait: twist, linger, expectancy, bind together, patient seeking

    Actively seeking what The LORD had promised is the word "Wait" not only here but in too many other verses to mention. Sorry, you'll have to study that much more out for yourself. 

    As for myself, I'm learning to "wait". The LORD says that I am not stuck, I am "waiting"; I'm in a waiting place, seeking Him out where He can be found, placing all my hope in Him. The LORD is my Testimony, my Sanctifier. For He has set me apart from who I used to be and the worldly lifestyle I used to participate in. How this world defines quiet times, God says, "Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28; Jeremiah 31:25). 

    I'm seeking an audience with The King, to meet Him face to face and remain there in His eternal presence for ever and ever. But to get there I must first seek Him out here in this life God has given me. I must read His Word daily, asking Him to reveal Himself to me, that I may know in each day what He would have me to know, to understand, to take in that I may grow in Him and He in me. 

    The twisting in this word "wait" means 'to bind together'. It is not twisting in the wind, being blown from one doctrine to another to none. It is to be so fully intertwined with God The Father, God The Son and God The Spirit that none can tear us apart. This is the covenant relationship which is promised to each faithful believer who follows Christ wherever He leads us. This is strength in unity. 

    Beyond the individual who waits on The LORD, there is congregational waiting, when believers come together in worship and prayer to seek out God through faith in Christ, who seek to be empowered by God's Holy Spirit. Breathe on us, Holy Spirit. Take our little bits of faith and grow in us righteousness that we might, indeed, be called and known as trees of righteousness, the planting of The LORD God. 

    That's why we go to church. As long as the person giving the message from God is anointed by God to do so, may our ears be prepared to hear, our hearts be prepared to receive and obey The Word being preached or taught. 

    Let nothing distract us from waiting for The LORD. The Word tells us "not to look to the left, nor to the right", but to focus on what is ahead of us. The immediate path, the Holy Way, the path of righteousness wherein we walk by faith in The Son of God, Who not only leads us up this path, but walks with us. How wonderful to know that Jesus walks with me! 

    I'm not stuck. I'm waiting for The Lord. 

Waiting On God

Waiting on God does not mean doing nothing on our part. In this passage 'waiting' means 'to bind together (by twisting {think braiding] ). Waiting on God means to 'wait upon'. We wait for Him to speak to us, then we obey what we have heard Him say to us. Each of us has a purpose which God wants to fulfill in us. Each of us has at least one mission field to which God not only sends us, but goes with us.
Do you not understand even yet that God goes with you? In His Word He tells us that He will never leave us: "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee (cf. Genesis 25:15, wherein God makes a promise to Jacob).

Wherever God is fear is not. Speaking to Joshua: "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for The LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest". Joshua 1:9.

Speaking through King David to Solomon: "All this, said David, The LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern. And David said to Solomon, Be strong and of a good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for The LORD God , even my God, will be with thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of The LORD." 1 Chronicles 28:19-20.

So, don't be afraid to wait on God. Be more afraid of not waiting on God.

When Samuel first heard God speak to him, he did not know it was God speaking, for "he did not know The LORD yet". He ran to the man he thought was calling his name, only to be informed on the third call that this was God's voice, not Eli's. It is only when we know The LORD that we will learn to listen and obey His voice.

You are not past the point of no return. You can still learn to listen to God, learn to know His voice. It is the voice of love, mercy and patience.
God is patient with us. Way more patient than we are with each other.
God is longsuffering. He puts up with quite a bit of our unrighteous acts. Why? Because He loves us and He only wants to bless us. He can't do that unless we obey His Word.

Obedience to God's voice brings God's blessings. Disobedience to God's voice brings God's curses, His wrath.

See this little scale? God has treasures set aside for each of us on a daily basis, when we obey His voice, His Word. But on the other end of the scale? Nothing. No blessings, no treasures, no gifts.

Waiting on God means to go where He sends us and to not be afraid when He sends us in a direction we are fearful of going. That bend in the road will glorify God. That steep climb will glorify God. That speech, that marathon, that song will glorify God. Whatever it is you think you can't do even though God has called you to do it, you can because God will be with you wherever He sends you, whenever He sends you.
Waiting on God means to be patient. (Warning: do not pray for patience. God will give you trials to learn to be patient in). Actually, when we are filled with The Holy Spirit, we have patience: we just need to exercise it. It is, after all, part of the fruit of The Spirit -- Galatians 5:23 -- "longsuffering".

Waiting on God means to live in love, as Christ loves us. John 15:12 "This is My commandment, That you love one another as I have loved you." How has God loved us? Unconditionally. Sacrificially.

Waiting on God means to do God's will. "And this is the will of Him that sent Me (Jesus speaking), that every one which sees the Son, and believes on Him, should have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:40

Waiting on God means to serve Him, not as slaves, nor servants, but as friends. We like to do things for our friends, do we not? To show them how much we love them. We bring them smiles on cloudy days. We clean their houses, when they are laid up. We care for their children when they are overwhelmed. We prepare meals when they are grieving. Because we love our friends we choose to make them happy, at times meeting their needs before meeting our own. Why? Love.

God loves us and wants us to obey Him in love. "We love Him because He first loved us". 1 John 4:19

Are you truly waiting on God? Do you wake up in the middle of the night, when you hear Him speaking to you? Are you digging into His written Word, eagerly turning pages, seeking Him out? Have you heard Him speak and known it was God who was speaking?

It's not too late. God is calling you right now. Some of you He is calling to salvation. Some to service. Some to healing. Some to rest. Some to the baptism of His Holy Spirit, to be filled with power to walk in His Word. Some of you He is calling for the last time. I hope you are ready. I know I am.