Waiting Well
If you have taken any classes with me or have known me for very long at all, you will know that I love words. You will know that I love to look up the meaning of words so that I can better understand them. One of the words I recently spent a little time researching is wait, which in Hebrew, is the word qavah (kaw-vaw). The Hebrew meaning of this word surprised me. It means to bind together (perhaps by twisting). The root of the word means the twisting or winding of a cord or rope. It then also leads to waiting in the way we generally think of it.
It implies waiting for, looking for, and/or hoping for. It can mean to expect – to look patiently for. As I pondered over these definitions, I thought of a verse I love in Isaiah that talks about waiting on the Lord. Isaiah 40:31 says, “but those who trust 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.” This verse tells us that those who wait on the Lord find the strength they need. Those who wait on Him find that He empowers them to do what they need to do.
Taking into consideration the Hebrew meanings behind the word wait, I found myself looking at it from a different perspective. For the believer, the way we wait matters. It is not a passive thing if you consider the Hebrew meaning of wait. I believe that according to what I have learned in my word study, waiting on God means to bind ourselves to Him while we are waiting. It means that we need to twist ourselves around Him like the cords of a rope. What this means is that we intentionally intertwine our lives with Him and cling to Him.
When you twist the strands of a rope together, they become stronger. “A cord of three strands is not easily broken” Ecc. 4:12b. Waiting is unavoidable in life, but how we wait is important, my friend. What we do in a season of waiting matters. I am learning that it is important to draw closer to Him during the waiting. I am learning that I need to bind myself to Him and look to Him to provide the strength I need. Biblical waiting means I need to bind myself together with Him. In my mind, I see this three cord strand as His presence, His Word, and my life wound together.
If I will wrap myself, my life around Him and His Word, I will find the strength I need to wait well. I will find the strength I need to patiently wait for Him to move. If I immerse myself in His presence and His Word, I will find the help I need to wait. This difficult time of waiting is an opportunity to get to know Him better. It is a chance to draw even closer to Him because the beautiful thing about this type of waiting means that He draws closer to you. You can’t bind yourself to Someone who is not close by. This can only be done with Someone who is right beside you.
And that is where He is each time His child is walking through a difficult time. He is close beside them ready to provide the strength they need. “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you; for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10. Time and time again, His Word assures us that He is with us and that He will provide the strength we need. He is with us in the waiting and when we bind ourselves to Him, we will always find the strength we need.
Beloved, if waiting is an opportunity to grow closer to Him and have an opportunity to know Him better, is it really as bad as I often think it is. Have I been looking at it wrong all this time? Is it more than a time to pray and wait (impatiently!) for Him to finally answer my prayer? I think it is. I think it is an opportunity to cling to Him like never before as I literally twist my life around Him and His Word. This time of waiting must become a time when I intentionally intertwine my heart and mind with His Word. If can learn to do this, I will find a strength that can only come from Him.
If I can learn to wait with purpose and intentionality, what might I learn during this time? How about you, dear heart? How are you handling your times of waiting? Are you waiting impatiently or are you using this time to draw closer to Him? Are you looking to Him for the strength that only He can give? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want this season to be wasted. I want to learn to wait well. I want to use this time to intertwine my life with His so tightly that I begin to look more and more like Him. Beloved, may He help us both to use our time of waiting to get to know Him better and glorify Him.
Katrina Douglas
9/19/2024
