The Waiting Game
“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.”
I recently read, again, this quote by one of my favorite Christian writers in church history, G. Campbell Morgan. And each time I read these words, I am floored! The primary reason for my overwhelmed response is because I realize that if there is anything I hate to do, I hate to WAIT. I hate to wait for anything. A flight. At a restaurant. An appointment. A movie. Anything… Well, anything except my imminent appointment with death. That can wait! But anything else…I wouldn’t mind kissing Miss. Wait goodbye… Another reason I am taken aback by Morgan’s statement is because it always seems to find my location. It is just my luck – I always find myself behind the person, out of all the bank lanes, who needs a deposit slip, then a pen, then another deposit slip for another account and has a host of questions for the teller. I’m the guy who stands in the grocery line behind the clerk who is with a customer who forgot an important item. Yes; that’s me! My final reason for being overwhelmed by Morgan’s statement is the fact that waiting seems universal. ALL of us must wait. In fact, when we came in this world, someone had to wait for our arrival. Regular people and prominent people all must wait too. Why? Because waiting is our universal reality.
So many of us are waiting on God to move. I run into so many people who fill out job applications, but it only leads to another rejection. There are persons I know who serve in a ministry field that doesn’t seem to fit into the vision they’ve imagined; and God just seems to keep them there with no way out. I know of others whose biological clock is ticking, and there seems to be no prospect of finding their “happily ever after” with a loving spouse and well-behaved children. I could go on and on. But here is another reality – when you’re waiting, and it seems as if God isn’t moving, or as if He doesn’t care; and the wicked are flourishing and succeeding. It can be disheartening when you’ve been standing in line, placed your order, paid your bill and standing to the side, while others behind you do the same, but they recieve their order and depart while you continue to wait.
Morgan says that waiting on God is not passivity or apathy. Like a good waiter or waitress, waiting on Him requires paying attention to every delicacy, detail, whim and need. A good waiter or waitress will not leave their guest disappointed because of menial service. The waiter is alert! The waiter is marked present! In like manner, if you are a child of God, it is your Christian duty to pay attention to every spiritual delicacy your Father has while you wait on Him to move. It’s His party; and it’s His table. He leaves and He will move when He gets ready. None of us are “off the clock” until He says so. The question, then, is how are you conducting yourself in the waiting room? Are you focusing so much on your next level that you are mismanaging your current level? Are you so intent on getting others straight and getting even that you haven’t grown in your own faith-walk with God? Have you sought comfort with all of the worldly things that the world offers in an effort to take your mind off of the reality that you’re still waiting?
This week I am reading and studying through Psalm 13. Psalm 13 and therabout seems to chronicle the period between David’s anointing at his father’s house and his future elevation as the king of Judah. He is living in the court of king Saul and Saul despises him. He is waiting. And David is perplexed in Psalm 13; and he doesn’t hide his overwhelming frustration with how long he’s been waiting for God to make His next move. First, it is important to lay your sorrow bare before the Lord. (Psalm 13:1-2) Second, Psalm 13:3-4 teaches us that the only place to carry our heaviest burdens is on our knees, in our prayer closet, in supplication before God. Finally, Psalm 13:5-6 shows us that David confirms future victory with the receipt of a rejoicing heart.
i have to be honest, however…I’m glad God is faithful, even when we mismanage life in the waiting room. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this subject; and invite you to share this blog with family and friends, if it’s been helpful to you. Blessings!
This past Sunday I was out of the pulpit at the Mt. Salem Church. I had the privilege of preaching the 55th Church Anniversary of the Galilee Baptist Church in Shawnee, Texas, where my good friend Rev. Tony Rhone serves as the Leading Pastor. In a very real sense, God knows exactly what you need and when it is needed in one’s own life and, for the Pastor, in ministry. Not only are Tony and I kindred spirits, it has been refreshing to see somewhat similar congregations where we Pastor; and to see how his is flourishing and being strengthened through the pastoral leadership and diligent teaching of God’s Word. Ultimately, I’ve been encouraged by God’s faithfulness to a pastor and people who will follow Him as He leads them to fulfill the plan and purpose He has for His own church. Galilee and Pastor Rhone are a testament of this residing truth. And to see them receptive to God’s Word and to his leadership, was a great encouragement that my own congregation is moving in the right direction, to the glory of God. 
Kraig Lowell Pullam 