WAIT

For the past two weeks, a single word has appeared over and over again during my quiet time (time spent in the Word and in prayer), in listening to songs on the radio or my iphone, in the scripture on my bathroom mirror, and many other places.

WAIT

Psalm 38:15- Lord, I wait for you; you will answer, Lord my God.
Psalm 24:14- Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 130:5- I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Lamentations 3:26- It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord
Psalm 5:3- In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly

Clearly God is trying to teach me something through the repetition of this word in so many aspects of my life. Sadly, I haven't discerned exactly what it is that I'm supposed to be waiting on the Lord for. Often times when I receive a specific word from the Lord, it is because I am going through a trial and He is strengthening and encouraging me, or sometimes He will speak a word to me that is meant for someone else.

Certainly, I am waiting to be in Heaven with Him forever; I'm waiting for the second coming of Christ. No one knows when those things will happen and so scripture tells us that we should wait vigilantly, but somehow this message seems more immediate.

Some of the deepest desires of my heart have yet to be fulfilled, but for the most part I've been strangely at peace about not having those wants met, trusting that God's plan is better even if I don't know what it is; so it seems strange to me that God would call this word to mind so frequently in a season of relative contentedness. Maybe this word isn't for now, but so that I can be strengthened when I start into a season of discontent...

How do I know what to wait for? Does this word apply to big situations as well as everyday mundane ones, like waiting until the weekend to buy a pair of shoes that I've had my eye on for a while? Does this particular word apply to a certain situation in my life or should it be more broadly applied. I've even gone back through my journal to discern if there has been a particular pattern to my prayers or something I've been praying about repeatedly and I can't find anything...Sometimes it is so confusing! There are literally thousands of things that I could wait for. How long do I wait? How will I know when it's time to stop waiting?

Whatever the reason God wants me to wait and for however long, I will strive to follow my confirmation verse, Luke 11:28 "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it."  Having heard this word, I will try my best to obey. So as I wait for God to make it clear, my prayer will be  from a song by John Waller called "while I'm waiting"

"I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait

I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting"