Hurry Up and Wait

By Gobel Brockman

     Nobody likes waiting. Especially today in our “Microwave Mentality” culture of instant gratification. Our lives get busy, and we need (or THINK we need) instant resolution to every situation. Unfortunately, we bring that same mentality into our Christian life. We pray and believe that if our faith is strong enough, the answer will come before we get to the “Amen.” There’s only one slight problem with that idea:

IT’S WRONG.

     The problem when we don’t get quick and easy answers to our prayers is that we are then tempted to feel as though our faith wasn’t strong enough, or that God has somehow let us down. We can then get discouraged and struggle with our faith in Christ altogether. It’s in these times that we need to remember a word that is mentioned in the Bible frequently, and it’s a word few of us like to hear:

“WAIT.”

     There are several Scriptures that mention this word. We read this in Isaiah 40:31:

“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

     We also read this in Psalm 27:14:

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait, I say, for the Lord!”

     There’s a powerful lesson in these verses that we need to learn and apply to our lives. When we think of “waiting” on someone, we think of standing with our arms folded, tapping our feet, and checking our watches every 15 seconds. But the Hebrew word for “wait” (found in Strong’s Concordance) gives us a different perspective:

“h6960. קָוָה qâwâ; a primitive root; to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expect: — gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, up)”

     What an interesting thought: “to bind together.” So instead of praying and then struggling with our faith if an instant answer doesn’t come, perhaps we are called to pray and then say, “Lord, I will bind myself to You until the answer comes, and even if the answer is delayed, and even if I don’t get the answer I wanted, I’m not leaving your side. My faith in You will not be shaken, and my life is Yours. I will love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind. My heart is bound to Yours.”

     May we all learn to truly “wait” upon the Lord. We will discover that our strength will indeed be renewed if we do.