Wait

Wait

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.”

—Ps. 27:14

Henri Nouwen, in his book titled Discernment4, describes the importance of waiting. This is not the type of waiting as in waiting for a bus. It is an active waiting, one that involves a focus on the present and an expectancy that God is at work in that moment. It asks of us to be patient. Nouwen humorously points out the root of the Latin word for “patience” is patior which literally means “torture,” which is how most of us feel about waiting. However, in the New Testament, the root for the Greek word for patience is the same as the root for the word “endurance” or “fortitude.” The implication is that waiting patiently for the Lord is akin to holding a position as in the midst of a battle, for example. While the Lord is at work we are being asked to stand firm and not to give ground to the enemy. Thinking this way, waiting takes on a new level of significance.

I am not a patient waiter. I am usually chomping at the bit, asking God for the next step, some direction, an answer, a confirmation, or some other indication that I am in the right place, making the right decision, or doing the right thing. What is so important about waiting? Nouwen points out the use of two Greek words for “time” in the New Testament. The first is “chronos” which refers to the chronological order of things. Waiting for the bus to arrive is attending to time of that variety. “Kairos” is the other Greek word and has to do with the way God views time. It refers to opportunity, the right time or opportune time, the root word “kara” meaning head, i.e. coming to a head.

Jesus made reference to this perspective of time when He told His mother, “My time has not yet come,” when she attempted to place the spotlight on him at the wedding feast in Cana. He used it again on two occasions (John 7:6 & 8) with his disciples to let them know the time had not yet arrived, often in referring to the time of God’s judgement.

If you have been a follower of Christ for long, you know that God doesn’t act according to our time schedule, but God is never late. God acts according to when the time is right. Nouwen writes that waiting patiently is being “vulnerable before God,” and it is like that when we wait. We are not doing, we are not in control, and we do not have a knowing that would give us some type of reassurance. We are vulnerable in the sense that we are trusting God to act in our best interests and all that we can do is wait and see whether He will or not. And yet, God is not inactive while we are waiting. He is answering our prayers. He is busily coordinating all the events that are interrelated, that would have an impact on us and others.

What has been your experience of waiting? Has it been more like torture or as if you were engaged in a battle with the enemy? Is there something that you have been praying about that hasn’t happened and has resulted in some frustration on your part? Imagine yourself sitting on the bench in this picture, and that this is the place God has called you to wait. Bring to mind the words of Nouwen that we are to wait with expectation. Does that feel differently than the way in which you have waited in the past?