The Art of Waiting

By Nick Daniels

Writers must be seasoned in the art of waiting--especially with the turtle-pace of the publishing industry these days, when it can take between 18 and 24 months to see your finished book on the bookstore shelves.

But we all wait, regardless of our profession. And waiting is not easy. And I'm not talking about waiting in line at the bank for 20 minutes--or for 6 hours at the Emergency Room--but waiting for the promises of God to be fulfilled, waiting for our dreams to come true, waiting for that breakthrough in our job or our marriage, waiting for a respite in a sea of troubles. Waiting for a miracle.

The BIble speaks a lot about waiting, but one of the most revealing and encouraging passages is found on Psalm 37:

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the LORD,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.

9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the LORD,
They shall inherit the earth.

Although the word "wait" is the same in English in verses 7 and 9, they're actually two distinct words in the original Hebrew.

The word for "wait" in verse 7 is "chuwl," which means: trust, stay, tarry, wait carefully and patiently.

This type of waiting implies being still, especially in regards to what is afflicting us. It may be hard, because we tend to always want to do something. We pray after we act, asking God to bless what we did, instead of consulting him first. The key is on verse 5, where it says "He shall bring it to pass" when we commit our ways to Him. So He acts--not us.

Now, the word for "wait" on verse 9 is more exciting. The Hebrew is "qavah," which mainly means to expect. This kind of waiting is the straining of the mind in a certain direction with an expectant attitude, a forward look with assurance.

The art of waiting is actually the art of trusting God--an all-powerful and always-good God. We can be still knowing that He will act, while our heart and mind are expectant and full of faith.

Do you know what the result of trusting the Lord will be? Go read Proverbs 3:5-8 and Psalm 40:1-3.

Nick Daniels is a suspense novelist who likes to study the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words in the Bible and eat blueberries. His website is NickDanielsbooks.com.