Everyone is familiar with waiting.  We have to wait in queues (now at a social distance from one another!) We have all been subjected to canned music while waiting on the phone to speak to a 'real person'. We've all sat in waiting rooms for the service of a particular professional's services. We all know what it's like to be in the car, stuck in heavy traffic, or sitting at home waiting for the post to come, or for that phone call. The list goes on and on.

Waiting is one of those annoying parts of life that takes up a considerable amount of our lives. Sometimes it is with joyful anticipation, and at other times it is with fear and trepidation. Whether it is for something good or something bad, waiting is difficult. We either want it to come quickly or we want to get it over quickly.

For a child waiting for a birthday or Christmas to arrive, or a couple waiting for their wedding day, for those waiting for a scheduled family reunion the waiting feels long and almost painful. But the days come and go and soon the day they long waited for is upon them and all too soon becomes a thing of the past!

 
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For those of us who are the Lord's people, waiting plays a huge role in our lives and even though we don't like it much, it is a great necessity.  It is in those periods of waiting that we learn some very important lessons in life. One of which is, that the God in whom we trust is never in a hurry. He is never early, He is never late but always on time ... His time!

At the end of the Old Testament there were four hundred years that passed by before the promised coming of the Son of God to the earth was fulfilled. The Bible tells us that:

"... When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Galatians 4: 4-5.

Perhaps we are going through a hard time, or perhaps there is a promise in the Bible you have come to understand is a promise from the heart of God to you personally, there is one thing for sure - you'll probably have to wait His timing for that promise to be fulfilled. But on a good note, you certainly won't be waiting as long as four hundred years! :)

I have come to understand the reason why waiting is so difficult for the most of us, and believe the secret to the waiting process to be as profitable as possible is to wait with the right focus.

Waiting 'for' the Lord is hard, frustrating and sometimes even very painful, because our imagination and understanding comes into play, which more often than not is in direct opposition to the mind and will of God.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55: 8-9.

But waiting 'on' the Lord is the game changer, and by doing so our waiting times take on a whole new dimension. Waiting now has a purpose, and is no longer the painful process that it once used to be. This is why we are told on numerous occasions in the Bible how our patient waiting should be done. Waiting 'on' the Lord comes with a promise, and how precious this is!

So what we need to know is ....

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What is the difference between waiting 'for' the Lord and waiting 'on' Him? It is the similar difference between believing 'on' Him as opposed to believing 'in' Him, and resting 'on' His promises as opposed to resting 'in' them!

This might not tell you very much until you take a closer look and you will see that the difference has to do with how well we know Him. The more we know Him, the closer we are in relationship with Him, the easier it is to depend 'on' Him - it comes like second nature!

Perhaps that sounds easier said than done, and maybe this is so on the surface until we understand that when God tells us to "wait 'on' Him", that instruction usually comes with a promise. And when God makes a promise He keeps it because He cannot lie. He is always true to his Word.

Here are a couple of examples to make this easier to understand, and I might add, ever so much more desirable:

"I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD."
Psalm 27: 13-14.

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD,
the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?
there is no searching of his understanding.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint."
Isaiah 40: 28-31.

I have quoted these verses in their context so you can see how wonderful the promises are when we wait with focus, knowing the One in whom we are trusting.

The right type of waiting changes everything!
It gives to our heart renewing strength, broader perspective, stamina and resilience, and a whole lot more besides!

There is another reason why I quoted these particular verses. For those of His people who have been waiting for the promised coming of our beloved Lord Jesus, we know by the signs all around us that His coming could happen at any moment, but we just don't know exactly when.

If we were to focus on the devastation all around us in this sad old world we might lose hope and give up. We might grow weary in the race that God has set before us in the misdt of all the wickedness that abounds, or in our day to day walk with God we might feel isolated and faint along the way.

But when our focus is on Him, 'in whom we trust and know is able,' then our waiting has a purpose in these closing days. He has not only given us the assurance that we will see 'the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living' but we have something to do while we wait. Jesus told us to: "occupy, till I come." Luke 19: 13. Just a tiny statement but it is a loaded one, because there is plenty to do and we never need to be idle.

Therefore consider everything we do and say from now on until He comes as He promised, as potentially an eternal investment and will see that waiting will not only have a purpose but it will never be the drudgery that it ever was before!

 
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Or as this verse has been lovingly paraphrased:
'Just wait - you'll see.' - J.D. Farag.

(Images by Robin Higgins from Pixabay)

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Just in case you missed this :)

Rest a While now has a Facebook 'Group' to which you are warmly invited if you have a Facebook account.
This is where most of the daily inspirational thoughts are being posted from now on.
Because there has been a change to Facebook's interface
the majority of people who 'liked' Rest a While's Facebook 'Page' are not receiving notifications of fresh content being posted there.
And so, as a result a decision was made to start up a Facebook Group instead, which is currently doing rather well.

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