Jesus had become acutely aware of the crowd’s hunger. He had compassion on them, because He did not want them to experience a physical crisis as they walked back to their homes from the remote place He was ministering in. So Jesus tells the crowd what they should do at this point in their relationship with Him; “He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.” Jesus wants them to nothing more than expectantly wait. He does not ask them to forage for edible plants. He does not ask them to send runners to town. He does not ask them to financially give so that food can be acquired. He simply tells them to sit on the ground.
Sitting in middle eastern culture is the posture of eating. Jesus knows they are hungry, so He tells them to get ready to eat. To do that they needed to do nothing more than position themselves for the answer to their need, and wait. Waiting by and of itself is not a godly strategy. But expectantly waiting – knowing that the Lord is aware of our need and our inability to do something about our need – means He will respond as only He can respond.
Psalm 5 says in part, “Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.”
There is something Jesus wants us to do when we are in need of God’s help – something we can do when we cannot do anything ourselves to bring about an answer. That is to wait on Him. He is our Father, and He is good. He will respond. He will answer prayer.
There are times when our prayers are to be at least partially fulfilled by our own downstream action, and other times when our prayers are fulfilled with nothing more than expectant waiting. It is at such times that waiting is an exercise of faith. It assumes that the one called on will in fact respond, and will in fact respond positively. Waiting is a manifestation – a physical embodiment – of our confidence in His character and our relationship with Him. We sit knowing our need – which is beyond our own effort – is now in God’s hands.
The Scripture is full of examples and encouragements to wait in faith – especially the Psalms. Psalm 27:6 says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 37 verse 7 says, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him,” and verse 34 says, “Wait for the Lord and keep his way.” Psalm 38:15 says, “I wait for you, O Lord; you will answer, O Lord my God.” Psalm 130:5-6 says, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.”
If you are right with God and you’ve presented your need to Him and subsequently He says nothing to you – it is time to wait!
The hour must come itself, and so it must simply be waited for.
W. Harris
APPLICATION: Intentionality
To do the ‘regular obedience’ while we wait for God’s special instructions is one of the most important spiritual principles a disciple can practice.