Why Wait?

I want to talk to you about something I love and hate. I hate waiting. When I order a bento box from the shop I am told, “shyo shyo omachi kudasai.” But I’m hungry. I don’t want to wait.
It’s the same at Macdonald’s, I order a teriyaki burger and I am told, “shyo shyo omachi kudasai.” What? This is supposed to be fast food.
Waiting at the dentist is also terrible. You can hear the drill and sucker down the hallway. I hate waiting.
But there is one form of waiting I do like. No it’s not waiting for Sharon while she is shopping. It’s waiting on God. This can help us deal with many areas of life that we struggle in. We live in a society that is busy, that is about doing not about waiting. It is such a hard thing to do – our minds are so busy all day and to slow it down is quite a task.

People get tired from the constant pressure of life, the pressure to perform, pressure to compete and to pass exams. The pressure to just get through life can cause people to withdraw into depression, or into their homes, hikkomori is an example of this, some even use suicide as an escape. All of these are real problems in Japan.

Isaiah 28:31 – Here is the secret to renewing our strength and rising above our problems.
I love what the word ‘wait’ means. In Hebrew language the word for wait is “qavah.” It means, “To wait, to look for, to hope and expect.” It also means, “To bind, to twist.” Like a rope twisted and wound together. A rope is made of many smaller pieces’ of rope twisted together. It makes it very strong.
So when we wait on the Lord we are tying ourselves to Him, our spirit is being tied to His, twisting, intertwining and being strengthened. And in this process we exchange our tiredness for His life/energy, our weakness for His strength, our depression for his hope, our fear for faith, our sorrow for joy, our sickness for healing.

Isaiah 30:18 – Why is the Lord waiting? Because He is waiting to tie Himself to you. He wants to be so involved in your life. He wants to give you all you need; he wants you to be able to rise up like an eagle, above the stress of life. He wants to be gracious to you; He wants to have mercy on you.

“How do I wait on the Lord?”
Ps 62:5 “My soul, wait silently for God alone.”
The word wait here in Hebrew is “daman.” It means, “To be dumb (not stupid) but dumb as in silent and still.”
Sometimes we have so much to say to God. To wait is to stop asking and praying and just wait quietly.
Lam 3:35 “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, those who seek Him.”
Waiting involves seeking – time in the word, in worship, in prayer and meditation.

There is no strength exchange in clapping your hands to a dead statue at the shrine or temple. It’s in waiting on the Living God. If you are dealing with negativity, depression, tiredness or the feeling of wanting to withdraw don’t just sit there, open your heart and approach God by seeking Him – Time in worship, in prayer and meditation. But allow Him to speak; sometimes we have to zip it to allow God the chance to speak to us.
He is waiting and wanting to tie Himself to you, to bless you, to strengthen you and cause you to rise up.