“Waiting on the Lord”: From Passive to Progress

We’ve heard it often. The adage can bring both peace and panic. When answers go undelivered and blessings unnoticed, when recognition is delayed and others’ choices cause unexpected forks in the road - just “wait on the Lord” seems to be the common response.

It triggers hope and helplessness. We are relieved that Someone so loving and powerful has our struggle on His priority list. On the other hand, we feel our only option is to cross our arms and wait patiently for that Someone to do all the work.

That is just not the case.

Waiting on the Lord is not a passive principle. If done correctly, the time between moments of Heavenly reward can be the time we progress the very most - here are 3 steps on how to convert passive waiting to faithful progress.

Step One: Service.

My sweet little sister has worked the last several months as a waitress at the local Mexican food restaurant.

Taking good care of others has always come easily to Chloe, perhaps because she’s had opportunities early on to see how influential loving support can be in individuals’ healing processes. Only a star of a human would let that sort of love translate to taking care of total strangers by filling up sodas and clearing dirty dishes.

We always await the weekend report of tips she collected. Most come with a sweet little receipt note, “Great service!”

Chloe is the resident expert of ‘waiting on customers’ with great, intentional service - it's this illustration that triggered the first and most important step one can take in their act of waiting on the Lord.

Remove the picture of waiting room waiting, impatient watch-checking waiting. Replace it with dedicated service, asking important questions to understand what’s wanted, checking in often to see how the experience is going for everyone involved. Serve the Lord and serve His kids.

“When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17)

Waiting periods should not be a time of sitting on our hands, but using them to brighten the lives of those who cross our paths.

Don’t just wait on the Lord - wait on the Lord.

Step Two: Remember, Unseen Progress is Still Progress.

I took a flight recently and listened uninterestedly in the pre-flight spiel I felt like I’d heard a hundred times before. This time, however, I noticed something I never had.

After the mask is on, "breathe normally and note that oxygen is flowing, even if the bag doesn't inflate."

The enemy of every good thing uses this tool, too. Especially as we wait for God to answer our needs, Satan would convince us He isn’t and won’t, or that we’re not worthy and we can’t. Even though we are perfectly safe with our masks on, he wants us to worry that the oxygen is not flowing.

We're still breathing, growing, learning, improving, and serving. Outward appearance rarely accurately illustrates the actual work being done and change taking place.

The very definition of faith highlights 'unseen' elements. Faith in us and faith in Him.

In order to utilize this time of waiting on Jesus Christ to heal our wounds and provide wanted answers, we must understand that the Lord is always working for our good, regardless of our current ability to see it.

Just because the bag doesn't inflate, doesn't mean oxygen is not flowing.

Step Three: Trust the Lord.

I love the Old Testament love story of Isaac and Rebekah.

Abraham, Isaac’s concerned father, sends his servant to find his son a wife who, among other wonderful attributes, is ‘kind’.

The Servant takes a long journey through the desert to seek out a wife suited for Isaac and offers prayers for the Lord’s help along the way.

He traveled for miles, offered prayers, made an oath to fulfill this task, and dedicated himself to the search. Before long, he came across a certain Rebekah who met all the criteria he was given.

After this tremendous effort displayed by the Servant, he realizes that he has done all he can do without infringing upon the agency of others, particularly Rebekah.

Genesis 24 then offers this sweet line. It made me tear up a little, the first time I read it:

"And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not."

To trust in Him is to believe He will make our journey prosperous. The God I know loves to

do that very thing.

Parting Words from a Wise Sister

I'm in a bit of waiting period myself. My sweet older sister and inspiration offered this wise direction as I navigate my own passive to progress conversion.

“Pray for what you want, and watch God give you what you need.”

For the first time in quite some time, I am happy to wait.

#HearHim #StartingToday #BecauseofHim #Faith #ChristianBlog #HowToBuildFaith #Patience #FaithinChrist #ChristianWatercolor