Waiting On The Lord

What is the difference between waiting on the Lord and merely waiting? It must be similar to the difference between fasting and merely going hungry, or the difference between praying with real intent and a sincere heart and merely uttering vain repetitions. There will be many times in our lives where we are convinced that we will be completely at ease and at peace if only we get married, or get a promotion, or have kids, or get a certain calling in the church - all reasonable and righteous desires, but for reasons that are nearly always beyond us, the Lord requires that we wait before our righteous desires are met. We have two choices: we can wait on the Lord, or we can merely wait. In the parable of the talents, we aren't given to know the complete history of the Lord's relationship to his servants. We don't know if they had come to the Lord and asked for bigger responsibilities or a chance to strike out on their own and seek their fortunes. But whether they did or not they were told to wait and were given talents to occupy themselves with in his absence. Two of the servants waited upon the Lord. They weren't bitter that they were asked to put their lives and personal advancements on hold, but they went to work and developed their talents and did all in their power to be good and faithful servants. The third servant merely waited. He was bitter at the delay to his dreams and did not seek to develop his talent in the slightest. Waiting on the Lord is not just waiting. It is cheerfully doing all in our power to make our lives and the lives of those around us better each and every day. As we do this we will grow and develop into the kind of person that the Lord requires us to be before He blesses us with that next chapter in our life.