Are you waiting? Waiting for God to reveal to you what is next. Waiting for something to happen, something to change. Well, what are you doing while you wait?

I believe it’s what we do while we’re waiting that can make a radical difference in our lives.

Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

So, what does it look like to properly wait for God?

Does your couch and Netflix qualify? Does saying no to everything that doesn’t have a flashing sign declaring “I AM FROM GOD”, qualify as proper waiting? Waiting for a knock on your door? Waiting for your phone to ring? Waiting for someone to pick your name on the list, but you haven’t even applied for the list? Is this how you wait?

Some of us are allowing the most precious years of our life to pass us by as we sit around waiting on God. And some of us have created complete chaos in our lives as we ran ahead and rushed into things we had no business in. So where’s the sweet balance between sitting it out and messing it up? How do you wait for the Lord, without becoming passive about your own life?

This is a question I often get. I’m waiting, but what do I do while I wait? I’m looking, but I’m seeing no signs. I’m asking, but I’m hearing no loud booming voices with my answers. So what do I do now?

Is that you? Are you wondering how exactly to wait for the Lord? How do you stay strong, and how do you take heart as you wait? How do you wait and not waste?

Here are two words for you, Sis. Are you listening? If you’re wondering how to wait for the Lord without wasting the time you have been given, ACTIVELY WAIT.

Just because you’re waiting doesn’t mean you’re supposed to be sitting around on your hands. Just because you don’t know what God has for you next, doesn’t mean you’re staring at blank walls waiting for magic signs to appear. Just because you aren’t clear doesn’t mean you reject everything else in your path.

Waiting is an action. This isn’t passive. This isn’t checking out. This isn’t dismissing yourself from what you can do, where you are, with what you have. You’ve been looking at waiting all wrong.

Are you ready for a perspective shift? I’m telling you this will blow your mind and change the way you see waiting for the Lord. Ready?

What did we used to call servers in a restaurant? Think about it … they were waiters.

Yes, a waiter took your order. A waiter filled your cup. A waiter brought your meal. A waiter wouldn’t lean against a wall and wait. A waiter wouldn’t plop down in the next booth and resign themself to that position until someone with authority told them exactly what to do next.

What was a waiter doing? They were serving!!!!

And girlfriend, this is how we wait for the Lord! We actively wait. We serve!

I heard this earlier today while listening to an old Elevation Church podcast and it was like the heavens parted and the angels began to sing! Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa THIS IS HOW YOU WAIT!

You find what you can do, and you do it. You find how you can serve, and you serve. You find what is needed, and you meet that need. If you’re waiting, then be a waiter.

Waiting can be exhausting, but God wants you to be strong! Let me tell you something, strength is never found sulking on your couch. Strength is never dug up doing absolutely nothing. Yes, faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised when God gives you a shovel. Sometimes God says, “my girl, we’re going to move this mountain together, and your job is one shovel full at a time.”

What if waiting has absolutely nothing to do with inaction, but everything to do with doing the next right thing even when you don’t know where that step will lead? What if the very thing you are waiting on will only be found when you show up and do what you can, where you are, with what you have? What if waiting is more like serving than sitting?

Read Psalm 27:14 again, thinking of waiting as the action of serving. You are now a waiter in the restaurant of the Almighty. “”Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Girl, tie your apron on, grab something to take down some orders, and wait for the Lord! Serve where he has you right now. This is actively waiting.

You’re sitting around saying “Lord, I’m waiting for you. I’m waiting for you to tell me what to do. I’m waiting for you to show me what is next. I’m waiting on you to make a move. I’m waiting Lord, I’m waiting.”

And God says, “No girl, you’re sitting. I want you to WAIT for me! Wait is an action. This is a service!”

Imagine going to a restaurant today for lunch. A greeter places you by the window with a great view. Then someone dressed in black with an apron and a notepad comes to your table, introduces themselves as your waiter, and proceeds to just sit down with you and stare out the window.

And they wait. And wait. And wait.

AWKWARD.

They’re waiting.

Isn’t this you? Isn’t this what you’ve been doing? God, I’m waiting on you. So I’m just going to sit here and do absolutely nothing.

Nooooooooo girl, get up! Serve!

I wanted a big family, but God said wait. So we actively waited by serving at an orphanage once a month in Mexico. Where did waiting for God lead us? Well a few years later, we brought home two little girls from that orphanage and called them ours forever. One of those little girls is now married, living in Italy, and pregnant with our very first grandbaby due to rock our entire world in just 4 more months! My guess is what has become one of our greatest blessings would have never happened if we would have been waiting on our couch.

I wanted to become a motivational speaker, but guess what … no companies were beating down the door of some unknown gal with sweaty armpits 20 years ago. So I actively waited. I served as a stroke survivor with the American Stroke Association and I went to every function and gave every speech they needed, for free. I grew stronger and more confident as I served, and when God saw that I was really ready, he opened doors I could have never imagined. But once again, my guess is that would have never happened if I would have been waiting on a big breakthrough, passing up all the little opportunities.

Before you today is an opportunity to wait for God. Yes, actively wait. Here, where you don’t know where he is leading and what he is trying to show you, you simply WAIT FOR HIM. You are a waiter. Not a sitter. Not a sulker. Not an over-thinker.

You’re a waiter.
And what do waiters do?
They serve!

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Actively waiting, not passively waiting. Don’t be awkward. This isn’t about sitting, this is about serving.

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