How to Wait on the Lord

If you keep your eyes open to the edge of wooded areas in the northeast United States, you may see a fawn or two without its mother. Recently, I saw a mother deer walking with her twins. I watched her nuzzle each one of them and saw them lie down in the grass immediately. My research indicates that the mother will gently touch her babies with her nose, pressing down toward the ground. They instinctively know they are to stay low and wait while she goes to forage. Their spots and lack of scent help them stay safe from predators. The mother will return to her fawns a couple of times during the day to nurse them or if she hears them bleating. Even animals are told to wait for their own benefit.
 
In hindsight, as I remember several times when I have had to wait for the Lord's perfect timing to see something happen, I realize that He has His reasons for the waiting. Scripture is full of examples of people of faith who have had to wait. Abraham, the Father of Faith, waited until he was one hundred years old for his son Isaac to be born. He learned the lesson of faith over sight by looking at the stars and relying on God's word. Hannah desperately wanted a son. She learned to pour out her pain on the Lord and trust Him in the delay. Year after year she prayed and then made a vow to dedicate her son to the Lord's work after his birth. It appears that the timing of Samuel's birth occurred just at the right time when God was looking for a new priest at the Temple.
 
David, son of Jesse, was anointed by the prophet Samuel to be king of Israel but waited for fifteen years until he was crowned King of Judah. Seven and one-half years later he was able to reign over all the tribes of Israel. By reading the story of David's life we can see that God had much to teach him before he would be ready to take the reigns as king. He must have learned that God does not deliver on His promises instantly. As he waited David learned to depend on the Lord, a practice he would need when he finally became king.
 
One of the Hebrew words for wait in the Bible is "quvah" (kaw-vah). It is defined as an active waiting that means one waits with hope or entwines oneself together with the Lord. This is what is used in Isaiah 40:31. Different translations of the verse use different English words. The New King James says, "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." The New International Version says, "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint."
 
The imagery for this word "quvah" is the twisting or binding of strands together to make a strong rope. It is an action word and implies that the intertwining represents trust. God loves this! He uses our waiting to draw us closer to Himself. This begs a question: What is our posture toward God as we wait? Knowing that the Lord has a perfect time for our desires to manifest, we should be encouraged that He will reward us for the waiting. This is what is says in Psalm 37:34. "Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land..." (NKJ) All of us have territory we desire to take. We should intertwine ourselves more tightly to our God, so we become even more like Him.