Wait

My smitten-ness with Andrew Murray is continuing, largely due to the fact that I am reading him daily. In his book, Waiting on God, he has gotten to the point of calling for corporate waiting. This affronts several of my sensibilities.
One is that in the American culture and mindset to spend time as a group waiting seems absurd, insane, and quite frankly a waste of time. Can you imagine going to a ministry meeting and being told "Today we are going to wait together on God"? Discomfort would reign; I can just imagine praying quietly for five or so minutes before someone said "Umm, we have work to do" and then hearing some shuffling and movement towards getting things done.
Can you imagine being at a chapel or church service and being told the same and expected to sit quietly or pray in groups waiting for God to move and speak?  People would get antsy; I do not think people would even last five minutes before someone asked for a song to be played.
The fact that this is so obviously counter-cultural and a challenging concept as a group points to one important fact: as Christians and as leaders we must learn the value of waiting on God in our own lives. If we are to lead others, we must be willing to lead by demonstration and know the value of waiting in our own lives. It is not so much our concepts and ideas that will captivate and lead people; it is the very essence of our lives. If we believe we are too busy to wait on God, to pray, to read our Bibles, to learn, how can we expect to lead others to do the same?
While waiting is counter-cultural, time-consuming, and trust inducing it is essential in living a life pleasing to God. Though it may affront one's sensibilities, waiting for God to answer our prayers and direct our paths will produce joy and will give us the courage to lead others in waiting on God.