How many times have you been told to “wait”? Maybe you’ve been told to “wait your turn” in a long line, “wait and see” what happens, or “just wait” for the right time. Usually, waiting is a passive, sometimes frustrating, activity. It’s what we do when there’s nothing else to do. We sit. We watch. We hope for a change, but our hands are tied. Is this what God means when He tells us to “wait upon the Lord”? For many of us, the idea of “waiting on the Lord” conjures up a picture of sitting idly, with our arms crossed, just waiting for God to do something. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The Bible’s understanding of “waiting” isn’t passive inactivity. It’s a purposeful, active, and diligent practice.
Waiting Upon the Lord Meaning
The Rope of Hope
Let’s dig a little deeper into the original Hebrew word most often translated as “wait.” The word is qavah. At its root, this word brings to mind the image of a rope. It’s not a single strand, but many strands woven together, twisted and bound to form something strong and enduring.
This isn’t about sitting back and waiting for God to act. It’s about binding ourselves to God, tying our lives to His, and holding on with a strength that only comes from Him. It’s a diligent and active practice, not a passive state of being.
Consider the watchman in Psalm 130:5-6: “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.”
A watchman isn’t sitting down on the job. He’s on high alert, his eyes wide open, actively scanning the horizon for any sign of the morning light. He’s eagerly and expectantly waiting. His whole being is focused on this one purpose. That’s the kind of active, hope-filled waiting God calls us to.
Waiting as Prayer & Abiding
The practice of waiting on the Lord is a profound and beautiful connection to two other spiritual disciplines: prayer and abiding.
When we look at passages like Psalm 40:1, we see that waiting is not silent; it’s partnered with prayer: “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” To wait on the Lord is to pour out your heart to Him and, just as importantly, to quiet yourself and listen for His voice. We don’t just talk to God; we wait for Him to speak to us. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in Life Together: “Silence is nothing else but waiting for God’s Word.”
This brings us to another powerful connection. The Greek word often used to translate qavah in the Septuagint is hypomeno, the very same word the New Testament uses for “abiding.”
Jesus spoke profoundly about abiding in John 15:4, saying: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”
To abide in Christ is to remain in an active relationship with Him. It’s a continuous state of engaging with Him through His Word, through prayer, and through obedience. Abiding isn’t about being stagnant; it’s about being connected to the source of life, allowing His life to flow through you so that you can bear good fruit.
When you’re waiting on the Lord, you are actually abiding in Christ. You are actively binding yourself to Him, trusting that He will provide everything you need to grow and to serve.
Practical Ways to Actively Wait upon the Lord
Through Prayer
Don’t just talk. Listen. Spend time in God’s presence, pouring out your heart to Him, but also quieting yourself to hear what He might be saying. The goal of prayer is the ear of God, and you reach it by patiently, consistently, and actively waiting on Him.
Through Silence
As we saw earlier, silence is a powerful spiritual discipline. It’s not an absence of sound but a presence of purpose. It’s intentionally quieting your heart and mind so that you can hear God. In Psalm 62:1, the psalmist says: “Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.”
This isn’t passive silence; it’s an active, expectant silence.
Through Worship
Worship isn’t just singing songs on a Sunday morning. It’s a constant posture of the heart that recognizes God’s goodness and majesty. As Psalm 52:9 says: “I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.”
Worship is an active way to wait on God, offering Him our praise, gratitude, and adoration.
Through Service
In Romans 12:1, Paul says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Here, the word for “worship” is the same as the word for “service.” True worship is often expressed through serving others. When we serve, we are living out our faith and imitating the example of Jesus.
As 1 John 2:6 says: “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Serving others is a profound way to wait on and abide in Christ.
Waiting on the Lord is not a passive command to sit still. It’s an active invitation to engage with God in a way that transforms us from the inside out. It’s a foundational element of the Christian life—a spiritual discipline that positions us to be strengthened, to bear fruit, and to live in continuous, active relationship with our heavenly Father.
How will you practice active waiting this week?
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