With most written words, the emotional inflection is up to the reader. The title of this article could be read several ways, with different meanings depending on the inflection. The sentences have the same words but when you read them aloud with emphasis on a different word, you get a different type of question, which in turn expects a different answer.
For instance:
WHAT are you waiting for? (What you wait for.)
What ARE you waiting for? (More emphatically and specifically what are you waiting for.
What are YOU waiting for? (Why are you waiting when others aren’t waiting?)
What are you WAITING for? (Hurry up, stop waiting.)
What are you waiting FOR? (The reason you wait.)
When God prompted me to write this, I was thinking about how we live out the waiting process.
Are we wasting our time, passively sitting back just waiting for something to happen?
Can we find purpose in the midst of the waiting?
I’ve been doing a lot of waiting the last few years; so I’ve had time to think about this concept. During my waiting I’ve been reading Waiting On God by Andrew Murray. One of the most important points Murray makes is that waiting is really working for God. In other words, waiting is our job. As Believers we are expected to wait.
We’ll always be waiting for something. The thing we’re waiting for now, may eventually come. And when it does we’ll have victory in that area. But almost immediately we begin waiting for something new. Sure, there are the normal, daily routine things we wait for:
Waiting in line at the grocery…
Waiting for the stoplight to change…
Waiting for your child to grow out of this phase…
Waiting on a loved one to trust in Christ…
Waiting on your marriage to normalize…
Life is really just a series of waiting events processing out.
Whether we realize it or not, we are being watched by others as we wait. It’s important to keep good attitudes and walk in love especially during the longest wait. I believe God honors that more that we know.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in His Word I put my hope. ~ Psalm 130:5
Question: What are you waiting for? Are you finding purpose in your waiting?
02-11-11