Waiting On The Lord
To ‘wait’ comes from 4 big themes in Hebrew:
1. The word qavah (pronounced “kaw-vaw”) which means:
* to twist, stretch, then bind/twist together (strand of rope or vine on a tree)
2. The word yachal (pronounced “yaw-chal”) which means:
* be pained, but wait for
* hope for with expectation
The word duminyyah (pronounced “doo-me-yaw”) which means:
* repose (state of tranquility)
* silence, stillness, quiet
The word chakah (pronounced khaw-kaw) which means:
* similar to yachal – wait, with piercing (or pain)
Why does this matter?
The Bible speaks a lot about waiting on the Lord.
The great men and women of faith wrote plainly, and often, about the need and practice of waiting on the Lord. So, it is good for us to understand what it means to do this – so we too can follow in these practices.
Notice there are 3 words that describe a posture before the Lord (yachal, duminyyah, chakah) and a word that describes a process. This is a significant insight.
Waiting on the Lord is a sign of a surrendered life. My posture in surrender will be a mixture of:
* PAIN – as my flesh learns to yield its control and ‘need to know’) – suspending my
expectations and allowing God to move in His way and His timelines;
* HOPE – as I look forward, in the Spirit, trusting His character of goodness and extravagant
generosity – knowing He is a loving God and He knows my need;
* SILENCE AND STILLNESS – learning to ‘still’ my mind and emotions – so I can hear His voice and receive His presence and power that will minister to me and sustain me
It’s also a process.
Imagine the strands of a rope being individually overlaid and laced together, stretched, twisted and connected together in a repeating pattern. This process causes strength to come to the rope – more than the sum of its parts – as it becomes thicker, stronger and, significantly, no longer 3 or 4 bits of rope, but one unit.
Isn’t this our inner life with God?
* We exchange our weakness for His strength
* We exchange our anxiety for His love and peace
* We exchange our ability to minister (preach, pray, prophesy, heal the sick, etc) with insights and gifts that He gives us
