Why We Should Wait On The Lord

Most of us would have to admit we have never heard anyone say, “I love to wait”.

There are some particular things we hate to wait for, such as:

• Sitting in the dentist’s office waiting for them to say, “You are next!” When they say this, you almost want to kiss your wife and kids goodbye, because you are not sure you are going to see them again.

• Sitting at a railroad crossing, waiting for the world’s longest train to pass by.

• Sitting at an intersection, with a light that goes through a half dozen changes, before your turn comes around.

None of us enjoy waiting. But yet, in our text, this is exactly what God tells us we should do.

Did you notice who we are to wait on? That is, we should WAIT ON THE LORD! Everyday, some folks:

• Will wait on trains.

• Will wait on elevators.

• Will wait on red lights.

• Will wait on people.

But, they do not spend any time WAITING ON THE LORD EACH DAY. The Lord tells us that to wait on the Lord, is one of the most important things we can do. Let us look at-

I. THE PROBLEM OF WAITING.

Many people confuse waiting with laziness. For example, if you ask some folks what are you doing? They will say, “Oh, I am just sitting here waiting.” What they really should say is, I am sitting here because I am to lazy to get up and do something!

THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF WAITING GOD IS TALKING ABOUT!

Illus: These people remind me of a story of a traveler, whose train stopped in a small country town to unload supplies. This traveler stepped outside for a breath of fresh air, and noticed an old hound dog sitting nearby, howling as if he was in pure misery.

The traveler asked one of the farmers, “What is wrong with that dog? He sounds like he is in pure misery?” The farmer said, “That is old Sam. His problem is that he is lazy, and good-for-nothing.” The traveler said, “Yes, but just being lazy should not bring on that kind of howling.” The country fellow said, “Yes, it will. You see, old Sam sat down on a sand-spur six months ago, and he is to lazy to get up off it. That is why he is howling all the time.”

Many people are like this, they are not WAITING ON THE LORD, they are just too lazy to move.

Illus: This reminds me of a man, who had some of the richest top soil in his county. The local county agent came by one day, and tested his soil, and said, “Man, with this rich soil, you could get rich planting corn here!” The old farmer said, “Yes, I guess I could.” The old farmer said, “There is only one thing that is keeping us from having the best corn crop in the county.” The county agent said, “What is the one thing that is keeping you from having the best corn crop in the county?” He said, “My Wife!” The agent said, “I do not understand. How does your wife keep you from having the best corn crop in the county?” He said, “Because she is to lazy to plow and plant!”

Laziness has robbed people of many blessings in THIS LIFE, and in the LIFE TO COME.

Many give the impression they are just waiting around for something to happen in their lives, but the fact is, they are pure out lazy, and if they live to be old, they will look back on their lives, and there will be little to show for the years they have been here on earth.

This is THE PROBLEM OF WAITING, many do not know the difference between BEING LAZY and WAITING.

The Word of God tells us to WAIT ON THE LORD. Let us look at-

II. THE PURPOSE OF WAITING.

The Hebrew word for “Wait”, is “Qavah” (Kow-vow) which means several things. Such as:

A. IT MEANS TO BIND TOGETHER BY TWISTING.

A string, by itself, can be broken by the human hand, but when strands of string are twisted together, they become so strong, that they cannot be broken with the human hand. This is exactly what happens when we wait on the Lord.

Our lives become twisted with His life, and we become so strong, that we can say with the apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” The apostle Paul had supernatural spiritual strength.

Let me give you a Bible example of this.

In Acts 16:20-25, we read this about the Apostle Paul, and Silas, “And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”