Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep mercy and judgment, and wait on thy God continually.
—Hosea 12:6
Continuity is one of the essential elements of life. Interrupt it for a single hour in a man, and it is lost. God wants me to be, and God waits to make me; I want to be, and I wait on Him to make me, every moment, well pleasing in His sight. If waiting on God is the essence of true faith, the maintenance of the spirit of entire dependence must be continuous. The call of God, “wait on thy God continually,” must be obeyed.
This continual waiting is indeed a necessity. To those who are content with a feeble Christian life, it appears to be a luxury beyond what is essential to be a good Christian. But, all who are praying the prayer, “Lord, make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made! Keep me as near to You as it is possible!” feel that it is something that must be had. They feel that there can be no unbroken fellowship with God waiting continually on the Lord.
The continual waiting is a possibility. Many think that with the duties of life it is out of the question. They cannot always be thinking of it. Even when they wish to, they forget.
They do not understand that it is a matter of the heart and that what the heart is full of, occupies it, even when the thoughts are otherwise engaged. A father’s heart may be continuously filled with intense longing for a sick wife or child at a distance, even though pressing business requires all his thoughts. In the midst of occupations and temptations, it can wait continually.
Do not limit God in this by your thoughts of what may be expected. In His very nature, God, as the only Giver of life, cannot do anything other than work in His child every moment. Do not look only at the one side: “If I wait continually, God will work continually.” No, look at the other side. Place God first and say, “God works continually; every moment I may wait on Him continually.” Take time until the vision of your God working continually, without one moment’s intermission, fills your being. Your waiting continually will then come of itself. Full of trust and joy, the holy habit of the soul will be, “on Thee do I wait all the day” (Psalm 25:5). The Holy Spirit will keep you ever waiting.