Avatar4321 Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 What does it mean to wait on the Lord. I find this concept taught in all the scriptures but it's not entirely clear what they mean by it. One verse that really stood out was:"And it came to pass that Jesus grew up with his brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come." (Matthew 3:24 JST)Even Jesus waited on the Lord.What are we waiting on the Lord for?
HappyJackWagon Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 We're waiting on the Lord's timing for doing certain things. For example We wait on answers to prayers or the realization of blessingsThe church waited on the Lord's timing to publicly proclaim polygamy as a practiceThe church had to wait on the lord's timing for giving blacks the priesthoodWe may be waiting on other corrections as well.
Popular Post Storm Rider Posted July 31, 2015 Popular Post Posted July 31, 2015 I have a simplistic view on the meaning of "waiting on the Lord". Our Father has a plan that will be accomplished even in the midst of our free agency. There is a right time for things and a wrong time for things for those who seek to serve him. In the case of our Savior it was not meant for him to reveal himself at the age of twenty-one whereas it was time when he was 30. We are by nature rather impatient creatures and want everything now. God teaches us to wait, be patient, and he will provide and make clear what we should do and when. 5
bluebell Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 Like has already been said, it means to have patience-to trust in the Lord's timing.
CV75 Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 What does it mean to wait on the Lord. I find this concept taught in all the scriptures but it's not entirely clear what they mean by it. One verse that really stood out was:"And it came to pass that Jesus grew up with his brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come." (Matthew 3:24 JST)Even Jesus waited on the Lord.What are we waiting on the Lord for?I think means having faith and hope in Him, and doing those things which serve Him in anticipation of His coming. "His coming" I think has many applications (His first coming, His second coming, any of the dispensations, His coming into our lives, our ongoing advancement in sanctification, etc.)
longview Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 It is important that we wait on the Lord. He may simply allowing you to do what you are doing and continue in maturing, gaining experience within the place you are in, until you are ready for the "next leap forward." BUT do not make the Lord wait on you. He has blessings to bestow. Unless you are distracted from doing your duties or fulfilling your obligations. 3
Garden Girl Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 (edited) I have a simplistic view on the meaning of "waiting on the Lord". Our Father has a plan that will be accomplished even in the midst of our free agency. There is a right time for things and a wrong time for things for those who seek to serve him. In the case of our Savior it was not meant for him to reveal himself at the age of twenty-one whereas it was time when he was 30. We are by nature rather impatient creatures and want everything now. God teaches us to wait, be patient, and he will provide and make clear what we should do and when. I tend along this view also SR... I've given this example previously, but it's how I view "waiting on the Lord." A number of years ago, I had a dear family member who had been struggling in their life... becoming discouraged, making bad choices, finally becoming seriously depressed... all along I would pray, to the point that one day I finally just fell on my knees and cried out to the Lord... As I knelt I was filled with the most exquisite peace that flowed through me.... the peace that surpasses all understanding... and came the words so clear... All will be well... I rose from my knees in gratitude and complete faith that indeed all would be well. The weeks and months went by and I would ask... How long Father, how long? Things went along and I could see improvement slowly and surely... as I continued to pray, I could see that this person grew more confident and became more positive. Some counseling helped... and finally almost two years from that day that I had prayed so fervently, a wonderful opportunity came and this person grabbed onto it and wonderful changes happened and everything fell into place, and the person was very successful.What did I learn? I learned to trust in the Lord, to have faith in prayers, that prayers are answered in the way the Lord sees best... and to wait upon the Lord and trust in his timing instead of my own. If the Lord had answered my prayers right when I had asked, in the way that I had wanted, I don't think the person would have been successful... but by waiting, the Lord helped prepare the person so that when the time was right and the opportunity came, it was accepted and successful... I've seen this happen again with another family member just recently... the Lord knows our hearts and what is best for us and will bless us in his way and in his own time... GG Edited July 31, 2015 by Garden Girl 4
Tacenda Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 Some people may need to just accept the Lord isn't going to be there or show He's there. It's awful when some reach out innumerable times and get nothing. Sometimes it's best to believe that he isn't going to interact. He's there, but can do nothing or more pressing matters are at hand, others can be His hands though. Sometimes it helps to just believe this, whether true or not.
strappinglad Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 There's also some value to " pray as if everything depended on the Lord , then work as if everything depended on you " . That said, it is best to allow others their agency where possible. 1
Storm Rider Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 Some people may need to just accept the Lord isn't going to be there or show He's there. It's awful when some reach out innumerable times and get nothing. Sometimes it's best to believe that he isn't going to interact. He's there, but can do nothing or more pressing matters are at hand, others can be His hands though. Sometimes it helps to just believe this, whether true or not. Tacenda, the issue is hope and faith. If I lived my life acting as if God was never going to be there, then I would live without hope or faith....because God is not there. I do agree that we need to work as if it only depends on us, but it is the praying unceasingly in faith that God is there and will answer our prayers knowing that when it is best all will be well. His work is not about meeting what we think is important in our daily lives, but it is about bringing us to him for all eternity to live in his presence. I am not sure we disagree, but there is a difference in how we express the thought. 1
Scott Lloyd Posted July 31, 2015 Posted July 31, 2015 My favorite "waiting on the Lord" scriptural passage is this one: "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31.) In addition to waiting on the Lord, this passage includes two other concepts that inspire and motivate me: one, mounting up with wing as eagles, and the other, the ability to run and not be weary and walk and not faint. The first back-page editorial I ever wrote for the Church News, done back in early 2001, draws on this passage. To this day, it remains my favorite of all those I have written. 4
Popular Post Kenngo1969 Posted August 2, 2015 Popular Post Posted August 2, 2015 (edited) Personally, I like a particular clause from Isaiah 49:23, which says, “They shall not be ashamed that wait for me.” While the scripture may be referring to Christ's first coming, to His second coming, or to both, there are various circumstances in which we “wait for” the Lord. The Apostle Paul writes of having courage enough to avoid succumbing to negativity despite various vexing circumstances—of being “troubled on every side, yet not distressed”; of being “perplexed, but not in despair”; of being “persecuted, but not forsaken”; of being “cast down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). While I'm acutely aware that many people have waited for the Lord far longer than I have to be delivered from circumstances that are far more trying and far direr, I am a personal witness that we need not be vexed, or troubled, or distressed, or to despair, or to feel forsaken as we wait on the Lord to deliver us from such circumstances. However long we must wait, I know that ultimately, we will not be ashamed, no matter how many people in the great and spacious building of Lehi's dream point their fingers at us and laugh, telling us, “You thought God was going to deliver you. Well, so much for that!” If we wonder, as did Joseph Smith, “O God, where art Thou, and where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1). If we wonder, as Christ did, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Ultimately—sooner or later, however long we must wait for the Lord, however long and hard the road, whether deliverance comes in mortality or after—we need not be ashamed, and the Lord will deliver us. I don't think we do ourselves a service by concluding that the Lord is absent or that He is apathetic or that we're simply not good enough when the answers don't come, even though some of them may never come in mortality. Mortality is designed as a test: in some phases, it's an open-book test, and we can use the scriptures as our guide. In some phases, even cheating is allowed when the Spirit whispers the answers to us. And in some phases, it's a closed-book test in which neither of these resources seem immediately available to us. For some (perhaps many) of life's trials, we won't know the answers until the Lord reviews our lives with us and explains why it was that, at certain moments, He seemed absent, or apathetic, or silent. I find tremendous comfort in this passage from Page 43 of Discourses of Brigham Young, which was included in his volume of Teachings of Presidents of the Church (Chapter 6): If I ask [God] to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life, or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children, or those that I preside over, and get no answer from him, and then do the very best that my judgment will teach me, he is bound to own and honor that transaction, and he will do so to all intents and purposes. I think one of the key phrases from the endowment is “by their own experience.” If God is constantly leading us around as someone might lead a bull with a ring in its nose around, there will be limited (if any) value in this supposed testing period called mortality. Sometimes, just as an experimenter might alter conditions in a lab to observe the alteration's effect, conditions here in mortality are altered—by God; by man's inhumanity to man; by “hap crappening”; by one or more of life's innumerable vicissitudes. Why? So God can see the alteration's effect: “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do whatsoever things the Lord their God shall command them.” Eve understood the importance of mortality as a test: “It is better for us to pass through sorrow, that we may know the good from the evil.” I also like this, from Elder Dallin H. Oaks: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2003/10/timing?lang=eng. We prepare in the way the Lord has directed. We hold ourselves in readiness to act on the Lord’s timing. He will tell us when the time is right to take the next step. For now, we simply concentrate on our own assignments and on what we have been asked to do today. In this we are also mindful of the Lord’s assurance: “I will hasten my work in its time” (D&C 88:73). . . . The achievement of some important goals in our lives is subject to more than the timing of the Lord. Some personal achievements are also subject to the agency of others. . . . . . . Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ prepares us for whatever life brings. This kind of faith prepares us to deal with life’s opportunities—to take advantage of those that are received and to persist through the disappointments of those that are lost. In the exercise of that faith, we should commit ourselves to the priorities and standards we will follow on matters we do not control and persist faithfully in those commitments, whatever happens to us because of the agency of others or the timing of the Lord. When we do this, we will have a constancy in our lives that will give us direction and peace. Whatever the circumstances beyond our control, our commitments and standards can be constant. . . . If we have faith in God and if we are committed to the fundamentals of keeping His commandments and putting Him first in our lives, we do not need to plan every single event—even every important event—and we should not feel rejected or depressed if some things—even some very important things—do not happen at the time we had planned or hoped or prayed. . . . Commit yourself to put the Lord first in your life, keep His commandments, and do what the Lord’s servants ask you to do. Then your feet are on the pathway to eternal life. Then it does not matter whether you are called to be a bishop or a Relief Society president, whether you are married or single, or whether you die tomorrow. You do not know what will happen. Do your best on what is fundamental and personal and then trust in the Lord and His timing. . . . Whatever the case, no one who “waits for the Lord” ultimately will be ashamed. My $0.02. Your mileage may vary. Edited August 2, 2015 by Kenngo1969 5
Avatar4321 Posted August 2, 2015 Author Posted August 2, 2015 Some people may need to just accept the Lord isn't going to be there or show He's there. It's awful when some reach out innumerable times and get nothing. Sometimes it's best to believe that he isn't going to interact. He's there, but can do nothing or more pressing matters are at hand, others can be His hands though. Sometimes it helps to just believe this, whether true or not.So we should his stop having faith...
Tacenda Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 So we should his stop having faith...No, I have faith there is something, a creator, but tend to not get my hopes up that he'll let me know it. So just waiting for the Lord might be easier if you believe he may not or is busy helping those that need it more. I remember reading a poem or something, about God being compared to a little boy creating or playing with figurines and then his mother called him to dinner and the figurines were left alone. I will try and find it. So he's there, just busy.
Avatar4321 Posted August 3, 2015 Author Posted August 3, 2015 What harm is there in exercising faith in Him to believe that He can and will answer you when His timing is right and choosing to trust Him and seek for Him until it is?When I was seeking my testimony it seemed to me that the Creator of the Universe could easily make Himself known to me if He chose though I wasn't sure how or when that might happened. I chose to believe that He someday would and kept searching till I found Him.It just seemed to me that choosing not to put faith in Him before I knew for sure was never going yo result in any communication. aren't we told we will receive our witness after the trial of our faith?
Avatar4321 Posted August 3, 2015 Author Posted August 3, 2015 I am?Just not used to hearing that from anyone. Weird
CV75 Posted August 3, 2015 Posted August 3, 2015 Good article on the subject: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/08/young-adults/patience-more-than-waiting?lang=eng
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