How often do we equate waiting with Christian service? We wait in line at the grocery store, at the bank, at a traffic light. We wait for our next paycheck, for our children to grow to that next stage, for the end of the day. We wait for God to provide that "one" thing that will satisfy us, to change a spouse, to change circumstances. We wait, and wait, and wait. But not patiently.
Psalm 123:2 says, "Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until He is gracious to us." These people were waiting--but their waiting on God was active, not passive.
Faith is waiting. It is the act of waiting on God to fulfill my needs instead of seeking to meet them myself. Faith is confidence that God knows my needs and will supply them in glorious measure through Christ (Phil 4:19). The action of the servant is directed at the master. The "eyes of servants," "the eyes of a maid" look to the one who is being served. This does not stop their service, or hinder their service--the service continues uninterrupted because the heart of the servant is intent on the Master.
The Master, our God, is kind, good, and gracious. Do I truly believe this? For this is faith, this is the mechanism that fuels any true service. We cannot please our Master until we believe His existence and believe that He will reward those who faithfully serve Him (Heb 11:6). Service that comes from a heart of fear or obligation is sporadic, incomplete, and futile. But service that is intent on the Master is a lifestyle, a way of being, that results from a heart of faith.
In what area(s) of life am I seeking to meet my own needs, fulfill my own desires? God's Word reveals His heart: that my investment in His kingdom, in His Person would overshadow my own needs--real or imagined (Matthew 6:33). A life as His servant does not require more time at church (although that may be a by-product) or flailing myself for past wrongs, but actively, devotedly listening to His voice and walking in obedience to His Word, believing His grace is sufficient.
"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).
Will I choose to live a faith-fully or self-fully today?
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