One Last Thought

At times nothing seems to be happening. So it must be for the bird that sits on her nest. Things are apparently at a standstill. But the bird sits quietly, knowing that in the stillness something vital is going on, and in the proper time it will be shown. It takes faith and patience for the bird, and such faith and patience never seem to waver, day after day, night after night, as she bides the appointed time.

Restless and doubtful we wonder why we have nothing to show for our efforts, no visible evidence of progress. Let us remember the perfect egg--unchanged in its appearance from the day it is laid. But while the bird waits faithfully, doing the only thing she is required to do throughout those silent weeks, important things are taking place.

I wait for the Lord. My soul waits, and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning. --(Ps 130:5, 6 RSV)

--Elisabeth Elliott

Hosea 12:6

Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.

King James Version

So you, by the help of your God, return; Observe mercy and justice, And wait on your God continually.

New King James Version

Therefore return to your God! Hold fast to love and mercy, to righteousness and justice, and wait [expectantly] for your God continually!

Amplified Bible

Therefore, turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgement, and hope still in thy God.

Geneva Bible 1599

Learning to Do What We're Told

"Wait on the Lord” and He will work (Psalm 37: 34) But don’t wait sulking spiritually and feeling sorry for yourself, just because you can’t see one inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our own spiritual fits of emotion to “wait patiently for Him”? (Psalm 37:7) is not sitting with folded hands doing nothing, but it is learning to do what we are told.

Oswald Chambers

Whenever There Is Doubt - Wait

There are times when you can’t understand why you cannot do what you want to do. When God brings a time of waiting, and appears to be unresponsive, don’t fill it with busyness, just wait. The time of waiting may come to teach you the meaning of sanctification—to be set apart from sin and made holy—or it may come after the process of sanctification has begun to teach you what service means. Never run before God gives you His direction. If you have the slightest doubt, then He is not guiding. Whenever there is doubt—wait.

Oswald Chambers (1864-1917)

Sit Still While You Wait

Then said she, "My daughter, sit still, until thou know how the thing will fall...

Ruth 3:18a

1Rejoice in the 2Lord always, again I say, rejoice.

3Let your 4patient mind be known unto all men.

5The Lord is at hand.

6Be nothing careful, but in all things let your requests be showed unto God in prayer and supplication with 7giving of thanks.

And the 8peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall preserve your 9hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Footnotes:

1 He addeth particular exhortations: and the first is, that the joy of the Phillipians be not hindered by any afflictions that the wicked imagine and work against them.
2 So is the joy of the world distinguished from our joy.
3 The second is not taking all things in good part, they behave themselves moderately with all men.
4 Your quiet and settled mind.
5 The taking away of an objection; We must not be disquieted through impatience, seeing that God is at hand to give us remedy in time against all our miseries.
6 The third is, that we be not too careful for anything, but with sure confidence give God thanks, and crave of him whatsoever we have need of , that with a quiet conscience we may wholly and with all our hearts submit ourselves to him.
7 So David began very oft with tears, but ended with thanksgiving.
8 That great quietness of mind, which God only giveth in Christ.
9 He divideth the mind into the heart, that is, into that part which is the seat of the will and affections, and into the higher part, whereby we understand and reason of matters.

Phillipians 4:4-7

Therefore I have Hope

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.The LORD is good to them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Lamentations 3:21-26

The Lord Waits

And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits - expectant, looking and longing - to be gracious to you, and therefore He lifts Himself up that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you; for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed - happy, fortunate [to be envied] are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship].

Isaiah 30:18 AMP

Be Still

What we should do is really, very often, to be still. And if we want something to make us more active and energetic, watchful and holy, I know but one thought, that is faith, - faith producing love. More trust and confidence and joy in God would be the secret - of more goodness. And this should come quietly and calmly, not in great effort; this kingdom of God has come not with observation. Rest and quiet growth are what you want.

James Hinton

On Waiting for One's Companion

Single life may be only a stage of a life's journey, but even a stage is a gift. God may replace it with another gift, but the reciever accepts His gifts with thanksgiving. This gift for this day. The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived - not always looked forward to as though the "real" living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow.

~ Elizabeth Eliot

Let Me Be a Woman

chapter 10, last paragraph

Waiting for the Next Thing

What God may hereafter require of you, you must not give yourself the least trouble about. Everything He gives you to do, you must do as well as ever you can, and that is the best possible perparation for what He may want you to do next. If people would but do what they have to do, they would always find themselves ready for what came next.

George MacDonald

Our Time to His Glory

The surest method of arriving at a knowledge of God's eternal purposes about us is to be found in the right use of the present moment. God's will does not come to us in the whole, but in fragments, and generally in small fragments. It is our business to piece it together, and to live it into one orderly vocation.

F. W. Faber

Teach Me, Lord, to Wait!

Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel;
"My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God?"
Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints or is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait upon the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings as eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:27