In the presence of the Lord
No-one likes to wait for anything these days, instant gratification is the order of the day. In most cases people believe that if they have to pay for something they must have it immediately. Unfortunately the consumerist mindset is one we often bring into our relationship with God. We believe without admitting it to a lot of the time that spending time with the Lord or working for the Lord must show immediate results. Most of the time however this is not the case. For those of us who have been in relationship with the Lord for a while we know all too well, what it means to wait. The act of waiting in and of itself is meaningless but waiting on God is never a waste of time.
I believe waiting on the Lord is beneficial to us in three ways.
1. God shapes us and mould’s us into the likeness of His son.
Simply put God makes us, with our participation of course, more compassionate towards others. He teaches us to love others as we love ourselves, to forgive as we have been forgiven, to live a life of obedience to God and to fall deeply in love with God. Preparing us for the day we will stand before the Lord, receive the crown of glory and hear God say well done my good and faithful servant.
2. While waiting on God we learn to surrender all that we are to His will for our lives. It is the process of trading our thoughts of ourselves which are often tainted by the views of the world and the opinions of others, which are not based in truth for the thoughts God has of us which are true. Take for example Psalm 139:14 David praises God because he is fearfully and wonderfully made. God doesn’t make mistakes and He created you in His image. Never forget that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:31-39). Waiting on God is learning to let go of our desires and grab hold of the desires God has.
3. We learn to pray!
It is easy for us to allow our prayers to become centred around us. We end up praying prayers that lack the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. Prayers that have become vain repetitions, including the odd hallelujah so that we can get what we want. Prayer is communion with God. It’s a personal intimate time spent between you and God. It should not be taken lightly.
When we pray we should approach God with a fear, reverence and excitement, keeping in mind that we are entering the presence of the God of all creation.
