What are you waiting for today?
An upcoming trip?
The results of a medical test?
A nerve-wracking conversation?
The end of a frustrating season in life?
Waiting is an inevitable part of the human experience. It’s also something we do our best to avoid. We avoid lines wherever we can. We pick the fastest shipping option we can afford. We get frustrated when a flight is delayed, when our Uber driver hasn’t arrived yet or when the kitchen at the restaurant is slammed and our food hasn’t arrived yet.
This same impatience is often imported into our faith. We pray and expect immediate resolution. We read the Bible and expect immediate revelation. We go to church and expect an immediate explosion of intimacy with God.
While those immediate experiences do happen from time to time, God often uses waiting to remind us of our dependence on Him, which is ultimately what transforms us. As Lewis Smedes observed, “waiting is our destiny. As creatures who cannot by themselves bring about what they hope for, we wait in the darkness for a flame we cannot light. We wait in fear for a happy ending that we cannot write. We wait for a 'not yet' that feels like a 'not ever.'”
It is that “not ever” fear which often derails us. This is why we need songs like Jonathan Traylor’s new single, “The King is On The Way.” The song calls us to remember and live today in light of Christ’s second coming.
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“We're gonna keep on watching
We're gonna lift, our eyes
We're gonna see Your glory”
In an appearance on Worship Together’s New Song Cafe show, Taylor talked about a common experience he has with his children. They will call him at his office and ask when he’s coming home because they miss him. He shared about telling them that he’ll be home soon and he’ll share what they are going to do when he gets home.
Later, he described coming home to find his kids with their room’s clean and dressed for wherever they’re headed - it could be the pool, the park, or for some ice cream. Taylor reflected on that experience from a spiritual point of view. “We should have that same readiness and excitement. Our father has made us a promise that He’s going to come get us. So, we should stay ready and do what we need to do.”
This song reminds us that there are three responsibilities we have as followers of Jesus.
First, we are called to wait on the Lord. As the Smedes quote mentioned above, waiting reminds us of our limits as creatures designed by a Creator. These limits will either drive us to seek our independence and self-sufficiency, or they will drive us to our knees in dependence on God.
Second, we are called to watch for the Lord. In describing “creations, groaning for our God,” the song borrows an image from Romans 8. There Paul observes, “For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.” The phrase “waiting eagerly” in the original language is an image of standing on tiptoe and straining to see.
This is the same image Taylor described of his kids waiting eagerly for him to come back and take them where they want to go. Our job as followers of Jesus is to wait AND watch.
However, our job doesn't stop there.
Third, we’re called to be working because we aren’t passive in the waiting. Waiting and watching reveals places where we can be working and we then get to step into obedience while we wait. So, beware of only working and not waiting or watching.
This is why Jonathan Taylor sings these words in the song’s bridge.
“While we're waiting
We'll be working
We're believing
The King is on the way
Jeff Pardo, who produced the song with Taylor, talked about this dynamic in the same interview mentioned above.
“As the church, we don’t wait with nothing to do. We’re called to be co-collaborators with Christ in the remaking and renewing of His kingdom. If we believe in the idea of eternal life, we are eternal life now. That isn’t something that only starts in the future. We have a mission and a calling as followers of Jesus.”
This song provides both comfort and a compelling reminder to those who are in the “waiting room” of life today!
If you are sitting in the waiting room, I hope you know that you aren’t alone. I hope you also know our God is a promise-keeper - you can watch for Him to fulfill His word and He will! Whatever He has shown you to do, while you are waiting and watching, I pray that you will do it.
The good news is that we serve a God who doesn’t waste our waiting. He’s at work in our waiting. He’s at work in us as we wait. And He’s at work through us as we wait.
Let’s stand on our tip-toes and keep our eyes peeled. Because our King is on the way!
Scott Savage is a pastor and a writer with the best last name in the world. Scott’s writing helps you laugh, challenges you to think, and invites you to grow. He leads Cornerstone Church in Prescott, Arizona. Scott is married to Dani, an award-winning attorney, and they are the parents of three growing savages. You can read more of Scott’s writing at scottsavagelive.com.
