Wait! Wait on! He is worth waiting for!

Wait in prayer. Call on God and spread the case before him. Express your unstaggering confidence in him.

Wait in faith, for unfaithful, untrusting waiting is an insult to the Lord. Believe that if he shall keep you waiting even till midnight, yet he will come at the right time.

Wait in quiet patience, not murmuring because you are under the affliction, but blessing God for it...

God kept his Son waiting and he may very well keep you in like posture, for how long did you delay and cause the Lord of grace to wait on you?

"But I cannot see how I am to be delivered."

Wait.

"Ah, this is such a heavy burden."

Wait.

"But I am ready to die under this terrible load."

Wait! Wait on! He is worth waiting for! Wait is a short word, but it takes a deal of grace to spell out its full meaning, and still more grace to put it into practice. Wait, wait.

"Oh, but I have been unfortunate."

Wait.

"But I have believed a promise, and it has not been fulfilled."

Wait, for you wait in blessed company. You may hear Jesus saying, "I waited patiently" (Psalm 40:1). He is teaching us to do the same by his gracious Spirit.

- Tom Carter, Spurgeon at His Best

Wait for the LORD

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:6 (NIV)

A pregnant mother who is waiting for her child to be born is said to be expecting. Are we waiting for the LORD, and expecting Him to work in and through us?

Joseph Waited (His Side of the Story)

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" - which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

- Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)

Mary Waited (Her Side of the Story)

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

- Luke 1:26-38 (NIV)

Simeon Waited

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him." - Luke 2:25 (NIV)

Anna Waited

"There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem." - Luke 2:36-38 (NIV)

Waiting in Eager Expectation

2000 years ago, Joseph, Mary, Simeon and Anna waited in eager expectation for the son of God to be revealed.

"In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." - Luke 2:1-7 (NIV)

"But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons." - Galatians 4:4-5 (NIV)

Today, 'the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God' (Romans 8:19-21, NIV).

Now let us 'wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we are saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently' (Romans 8:23b-25, NIV).

Links: Wait for the LORD (19 Jun 10), Discovering God's Will in Waiting (28 Jun 10)