“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 40:31.

Why wait?  After all, why wait when what see you is right before your very eyes? You just have to reach out and grab it!!! Why wait, when everyone around you, friends, family and colleagues are smiling and seemingly happier, richer, smarter than you are? Waiting is so frustrating!!!

So what is waiting anyway? Merriam Webster dictionary defines waiting as “to stay in a place of expectation of; to serve; to remain stationery in readiness and expectation; to pause for another to catch up; to hold back expectantly; to be ready and available.” Merriam Webster also describes the word wait as “to remain temporarily neglected or unrealized.”  Did you notice anything about these definitions?

Almost all these definitions are completely positive! Only the last definition is negative and, even then, it describes temporary state. From these definitions I concluded that, waiting means that something good is about to happen, and even if I feel neglected, it is only for a little while. Interesting….

Then what’s our real problem with waiting?  I believe our real problem with waiting is FOMO or Fear of Missing Out.  I never heard of this theory till a couple years ago myself!! Dr. Dan Herman, a researcher, coined the phrase since 1996 to describe our fears, when we feel that we are missing out on ALL the (supposedly) exciting things happening in others’ lives, and NOT our own lives. I must admit, I thought that it wasn’t a real thing at first, then I did my research. It’s real! As human beings, we are so afraid of being left behind, of being forgotten, of being neglected or feeling unloved. Could it be that our real problem with waiting is not the waiting itself, but our fear, our insecurities?

Let me back track for a bit…How many times have you succeeded, when you did not wait? How many mistakes have you regretted, decisions made in fear, that became disasters because you didn’t wait. I don’t know about you, but today, today I have decided to WAIT!  More specifically I have decided to WAIT ON GOD.

Jesus waited. He waited on God on purpose. He waited for God to manifest Himself in His life. He waited on God to perform his first miracle. He waited. He waited for God to raise him from the dead. He waited. He waited on His Father. If Jesus could wait on God, so can I!! I am choosing to wait on God to guide me in every area of my life including, but not limited to, my career, finances etc

Isaiah sums it up superbly:

“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 40:31).

God is on your side. You and I have nothing to fear when we wait!