Waiting at the Feet of Jesus

Psalm 62: 1-2 says “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.”

Wait quietly.  What does that look like?  What does that mean?  Quietly, perhaps, is the easier word to define.  To do something quietly is to do it with little volume, maybe even none.  But waiting?  Waiting, I believe, is the more difficult term to comprehend.  Waiting implies stillness, a lack of motion and, possibly, action.  How could it be that this is a prerequisite to victory and salvation in times of trouble?  

In Lamentations 3:26, the author tells us “it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD”.  This idea is repeated in Luke’s gospel.  While Mary sits at the feet of Jesus, Martha complains that her sister is ignoring all the work of hosting Jesus and his disciples.  On the surface, this seems like a valid complaint.  Culturally, the women were expected to be taking care of the preparations for such a visit.  Mary and Martha’s contemporaries probably would have agreed that Mary should have been helping Martha.  Jesus, however, disagrees.  He lovingly answers Martha’s complaint with truth that benefits us all.  “There is only one thing worth being concerned about.  Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). 

  

One thing.  Only one thing.  Jesus says nothing about waiting in his response to Martha, but we see it in Mary’s posture and what she chose to occupy herself with.  Despite all of the tasks that she could have found to do, she realized that the only important one was to sit at the feet of Jesus and wait to receive from Him.  Jesus reiterates this over and over in the gospels.  He calls us to wait and receive.  Peter struggled with the idea of waiting, too.  He initially refused to let Jesus wash his feet before the Passover (John 13).  Only when Jesus told Peter that he could not belong to Him unless He washed Peter’s feet did Peter acquiesce.  At the time, Peter did not understand that Jesus came to serve him, not to be served.  

I think we often share Peter’s struggle.  Jesus came to serve us, and He exists eternally to serve us.  Yes, He is God and deserves more praise and honor than we could ever imagine.  He is also madly in love with us and came to this earth to serve us.  He conquered sin and death so that we might receive blessings and favor during this life and everlasting salvation when we walk this earth no more.  He came for us to wait at His feet and receive from Him.  

Fixing our eyes on Him is the only thing that matters.  When we do this, we find peace.  When we do this, He is able to work everything out for our good (Romans 8:28).