The Strength of Stillness

Actively Waiting on the Lord

In a culture that prizes instant results and constant activity, the spiritual discipline of waiting on the Lord can feel contradictory, even frustrating. Yet, Scripture calls us repeatedly to this posture of expectation and trust. It is not an invitation to passive resignation, but a command to engage in active, hopeful reliance on God’s perfect timing and power.

Active Waiting: Beyond Passivity

The biblical command to “wait on the Lord” is best captured by the Hebrew word often associated with it, which suggests to bind together or to look eagerly.

• Hope, Trust, and Seek: To truly wait on the Lord (as in Isaiah 40:31) is to actively hope, steadfastly trust, and diligently seek God while refraining from seizing control or rushing ahead in our own strength or timeline.

• Refraining from Our Own Strength: This discipline requires us to resist the human impulse to manipulate circumstances or force outcomes. It means intentionally stepping back from our timeline to surrender to God’s kairos (divine, appointed time), rather than following our chronos (linear, clock time).

Jesus’ Perfect Example of Submission

The life of Jesus provides the ultimate demonstration that dependence on the Father is not a sign of weakness, but the source of all spiritual power. Though fully divine, Jesus lived a human life of perfect submission and dependence on God.

• Seeking God’s Presence: Jesus constantly modeled this active waiting by regularly withdrawing to pray and commune with the Father . This practice ensured that His every action and word—from beginning His public ministry to choosing His disciples—was precisely aligned with God’s will and timing.

• Perfect Submission to Timing: Jesus waited for the Father’s signal. He did not perform miracles on demand or go to the cross a moment too soon or too late. His perfect life demonstrated the profound truth: God’s timing is always perfect. Trusting Him means accepting that the wait itself is part of the plan and serves a holy purpose.

The Promise: Renewed Strength

The reward for those who wait is not a mere consolation prize, but a supernatural endowment of power.

• Spiritual and Emotional Resilience: Isaiah 40:31 promises: “those who wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” This is a renewal of strength—a deep spiritual and emotional resilience.

• Soaring Above Circumstance: This renewed strength allows us to soar like eagles—to rise above the weariness and difficulty of our circumstances—and to maintain momentum, allowing us to run without growing weary and walk without fainting until God’s promise is fully realized.