What Does It Mean To Wait On The Lord?

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WAIT ON THE LORD?

Text Isaiah 40:31

Last week we looked at waiting on the Lord by looking at the eagle and how they raise their young.

Today I want to continue to look at waiting on the Lord but look more in depth on the waiting part but maybe with a slightly different twist.

The Hebrew word for wait in Isaiah 40:31 means: to bind together (perhaps by twisting) to expect:- gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon).

So there is a coming together with the Lord implied in the word as well as patience and waiting for, waiting on and waiting upon Him

If you were employed by a restaurant to wait on tables what would be your job description

1. Knowledge of the requirements of the owner and the goods on offer ie. the menu

2. Show the customer the menu and ask what they want from the menu

3. Bring the customer the meal or drinks that they have ordered.

In other words your job description could be brought down to that of a servant and having knowledge of the service you are providing.

I believe that this is the very heart of what waiting on the Lord is all about.

Gaining Knowledge of Him though His Word and asking Him what He requires of you. This brings us into a close relationship with Him but there must be the willingness to serve coming from that.

You must go out and get or accomplish what God wants you to do and give it to Him or show Him the completed work. In other words bring all the Glory back to God. Servanthood.

If you get good service and good food at a restaurant you will remember the name of the restaurant. Not necessarily the name of the waiter.

SO HOW DO WE LEARN SERVANTHOOD

JESUS is our best example of Servanthood and being THE WORD OF GOD shows through THE WORD how to wait on God through Servanthood

Like the baby eagle we need to feed on the right food

A good mix of both Old & New Testament not just your favourite verses.

As a waiter in a restaurant needs to have an intimate knowledge of all the food on offer, we need to have an intimate knowledge of God’s spiritual food, His Word the Bible.

James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Servanthood brings with it humility and that is one of the three things God requires of us and were certainly attributes that Jesus had in abundance

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man, what is good;

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

People have tried all kinds of ways to please God, but God has made His wishes clear: He wants his people to be just, merciful, and to walk humbly with Him.

TO WAIT ON GOD WE MUST ACT JUSTLY

There are times in each of our lives that we have the opportunity to do what is right or what is wrong. It’s six in the morning, the light won’t turn green, no one is around, do you run the red light? You are called to go into work on Saturday morning, but it’s such a great day, no one will care if you don’t come in today, do you call in sick? You over hear some people using the Lords name in vain, you know you should say something, but do you? God is calling us to what is right. God is calling us to act justly. (Titus 1:16 says, "They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.")

When God calls us to act justly how do we respond?

Do we say Yes Lord, I will follow you,

Yes Lord, you are first in my life,

Yes Lord, I’ll go where you want me to go and do what you want me to do, and then do we follow through!

The Christian group D.C. Talk said -- “The greatest problem with Christianity today, are people who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and deny Him by their lifestyle, that is what an unbelieving world, simply finds unbelievable.” God is calling us to wait on Him by Acting Justly!

TO WAIT ON GOD WE MUST LOVE MERCY

To have mercy on someone means that you have pity on them or you show them leniency. I’m defiantly glad that is what God does for me.

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells of a King who wanted to settle his accounts, so he called in all the people who owed him money and asked for it back. One man owed the king ten thousand talents (a lot of money) There was no way the man could ever repay the king, but the king had mercy on his servant and cancelled the debt. The servant then went to his friend who owed him a hundred denarii (not very much money) and asked for his money back, the man said that he couldn’t pay it back yet, so you know what that servant did, he threw his friend in prison. Of course when the king heard about this, he was not happy and that is where we pick up with the story.