Waiting

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I'm waiting I will serve You
While I'm waiting I will worship
While I'm waiting I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait
(While I'm Waiting, John Waller)

These lyrics have touched my heart this past week.  Sometimes, waiting is a choice.  We have the option to wait on the Lord or to forge ahead with our own plans when His lag behind "my" schedule.  But sometimes, waiting isn't a choice.  A friend is waiting for the Lord to answer her prayers for a child; there is nothing she can do to "make it happen."  She must wait on the Lord.

But these lyrics don't just touch on a willingness to wait - they also touch on the attitude of waiting.  There is a willingness: "though it is painful, but patiently I will wait" (the second verse says "faithfully I will wait").  Waiting is hard.  And, yes, often painful.  It can be painful to watch friends younger than you marry and have children while you are still waiting for God to provide a spouse.  "But patiently...faithfully... I will wait."

Yet the attitude of waiting in these lyrics go beyond that.  They are also active.  "I will move ahead bold and confident, taking every step in obedience.  While I'm waiting, I will serve You... I will worship... I'll be running the race even while I wait."  I love that the "moving ahead" is only in obedience.  Sometimes, even as we wait, there are steps we need to take that are steps of obedience.  I have to ask myself: am I rejoicing with those who rejoice?  Am I being faithful in my relationship with God?  Am I being faithful to pray for others and not just about my own dreams and desires? 

Am I serving God in and through my waiting?  Am I worshiping God in, through, and because of my waiting?

"I'll be running the race even while I wait."  I deeply desire to be faithful to God as I wait.  I may be waiting for a spouse.  And maybe at some other time in my life, I might be waiting for a child or a job offer or who knows.  But even while I'm waiting for one thing, God has a task for me in the meantime.  I want to run the race He has set before me, serving Him with a heart of worship.