There's Waiting - Then There's Waiting

This word “wait” is an interesting term. It has two meanings. On one hand, it can mean to wait until something happens. It happens when something is supposed to occur – and you have to be patient as you wait for it to happen. We wait on someone to show up at an event. We may wait for a movie to start. I wait for my coffee to make each morning. 😊

The other way to use the word, “wait” is to serve. We like to tip a good waiter when they serve us well at a restaurant. The doorman waits on us as he serves us by taking our coats. The valet serves us by parking our car.

So when we say we are waiting on God which one are we talking about? These crazy thoughts started as I was reading in Isaiah 49 this morning. I had actually started in Psalm 31 as I’m working on a new devotional to come out soon. My meditations were on not being ashamed to trust God. A series of short searches and I landed in Isaiah 49:23. The very last part of that verse in the New American Standard Bible says this: they shall not be ashamed who wait on Me.

That’s when I started thinking a lot about the two kinds of waiting. We may find ourselves waiting on God to do something. But while we are waiting on that – we can be waiting on Him. Serving Him.

When I first became a caregiver, I thought my days of serving Him were over because I couldn’t serve like I had in the past. That of course was basically inside the walls of religion. It took a while to learn that I serve Him in many ways. Firstly, by taking care of my son. Then, I started taking care of my aunt too. As I serve these two fragile individuals – I am taking care of the least of these. And I am doing His service on this earth.

Serving Him isn’t complicated. It’s not about being on a platform or headlining an event. It’s about humbly doing whatever is set before us each day. And doing it for Him. Colossians 3: 23-24 says this: And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord Christ. (NASB)

Today, I will take time to meditate on how I serve God by serving those who I take care of. I’ll think of how that care comes from a place of love and how God cares for us because He loves us too. My thoughts will be on how my actions – each and every one of them – are an act of service to God. Today I will serve Him by serving them – will you join me?