| Written By Administrator Friday, 17 July 2009 |
the lives of many believers today: the habit of waiting on God. It really
is no surprise, though, because we live in an age where everything is so
fast and instantaneous that we even tend to relate to God and expect Him to
work in the same way. Today, we are satisfied with nothing less than
instant answers to our prayers, immediate deliverance from our trials,
on-the-spot miracles and lightning revelation from the Word of God (without
the need to spend time in study and meditation)!
The Christian needs to understand that if he does not wait on God, he will
have to pay a high price. This is not an option for us; it is a matter of
life and death!
Why do we need to wait on God?
1. To know God's mind
According to the Apostle Paul, "God has given us a sound mind" and "we have
the mind of Christ" (2 Timothy 1:7; 1 Corinthians 2:16). However, this does
not automatically follow that whatever we think is 'sound' and 'in
accordance with the mind of Christ'. What it does mean is that as
born-again Christians, each one of us has the potential ability and capacity
to understand the mind of God!
Waiting on God is an exercise by which we calm our minds and tune them up to
receive signals from Above. An agitated and turbulent mind cannot recognize
the voice of God. Only a mind that is fixed on Him can discern the still
small voice by which He speaks to us (1 Kings 19:12; Isaiah 26:3; 30:21).
This is why the Bible encourages us to keep our eyes and thoughts on the
Lord at all times and not be bound by anxiety and worry (Philippians 4:6, 7;
Hebrews 3:1 and 12:2).
Confusion and lack of clarity results when our mind is constantly reasoning
and occupied with many things. Look what happened to Martha when Jesus
visited her home. She was distracted and worried by all the preparations
that had to be made. Mary on the other hand is a picture of calmness and
quietness. We learn from their lives how important it is to revolve our
life around 'one thing'- waiting on the Lord (Luke 10:38 to 42)! By
cultivating the habit of casting each and every burden onto the Lord rather
than worrying over it, we would save ourselves a lot of trouble and energy!
God does not usually reveal His mind to us instantly because He knows
exactly when we are ready to 'receive and follow' His revelation and
direction. The psalmist David was prepared to wait all through the day to
learn the ways of the Lord and understand His will for his life (Psalm 25:4,
5). Jesus said to His disciples in John 16:12 and 13, "I have much more to
say to you, more than you can NOW bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth
comes, He will guide you into all truth."
We often miss God's will at critical situations in our life and make wrong
decisions because we panic and react to those events in a spirit of haste.
We must rather choose to withdraw ourselves for a while to wait on the Lord.
Look at what Jesus did when He had to choose His twelve apostles: He spent
the entire night in prayer and seeking the will of His Father (Luke 6:12,
13). Again, when John the Baptist was beheaded, Jesus chose to "withdraw by
Himself in a boat to a remote area to be alone" (Matthew 14:13).
It is crucial to wait on God when we are at crossroads and there is more
than one option available to us. Choosing between the good and the bad is
easy but it is often nerve-wracking to choose between the good and the
better. Only God knows what is truly best for us. So, at such times, we
must take time to wait on God to see how He would direct us and steer the
events in our life. A wonderful example in the Bible is when Eliezer was
sent by Abraham to Mesopotamia on a very important mission- to fetch a bride
for Isaac. When he saw Rebekah, he was really excited. Nonetheless, he
"remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had prospered his trip or
not" (Genesis 24:21). And interestingly, during that time, the groom was
also waiting on God by spending time in meditation out in the fields (vs
63). What a glorious lesson, especially for parents and youngsters!
2. To strengthen our hearts
The Psalmist was able to give birth to so many treasured and priceless
psalms because of the difficult and dangerous times he had to go through.
And through those fiery trials, he learned one important lesson, that
waiting on God is fundamental and vital to strengthen one's heart during the
flood of trials and temptations. He declares in Psalm 27:14, "Wait on the
Lord; be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on
the Lord!" David confessed that he would have lost heart if he had not
waited on God in faith (vs 13).
We are all finite human beings with a host of weaknesses, but in different
areas. God allows us to have them so that we will walk humbly before Him
and others. Just as He gave Paul the grace to overcome his weakness, the
Lord seeks to bestow upon each one of us the strength to reign victoriously
in every situation (Romans 8:37). It is by waiting on the Lord that we
obtain this supply of power (Isaiah 40:29 to 31).
As children of God, we have to face chastisement and the rod of discipline
from our loving Father (Hebrews 10:7 to 10). It is the remembrance of the
mercies of God in reverential silence that strengthens our hearts at such
moments. Prophet Jeremiah testifies in Lamentations 3:19, 21, 24 and 26, "I
remember my affliction and my wandering.Yet this I call to mind and
therefore I have hope. I say to myself, 'The Lord is my portion.
Therefore, I will wait for Him.' It is good to wait quietly for the
salvation of the Lord."
There are periods in our life when we experience silence and darkness in our
walk with God. It may be a "wilderness experience". Everything may seem to
turn against us; nothing may quite excite us and encourage us. However,
this is not a season to worry but a phase to patiently trust in the Lord and
wait for His deliverance. "Who among you fears the Lord and obeys His
servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name
of the Lord and rely on his God" (Isaiah 50:10).
It is not unusual to experience highs and lows in our Christian life. There
are mountains and valleys that we all must travel through. Like Elijah, we
may witness the fire of God coming down from Heaven one day and the next day
be sitting in the depths of depression longing and praying for death (1
Kings 18:38; 19:3, 4). When God tries to communicate to us at such points
of life, patient waiting on the Lord will help us to be open to His "means
of communication". This is because there's no stereotype with God.
Yesterday, He may have answered "by fire"; today, He may choose to speak
through "a still small voice" (1 Kings 18:37, 38; 19:9 to 13). Sometimes His
ways are "in the whirlwind and in the storm" (Nahum 1:3b); at other times,
He leads us by the "still waters" (Psalm 23:2b). If we are not to miss Him
when He speaks, we must habitually wait on Him!
3. To fight the Enemy
The moment we become Christians through the new birth, we are enlisted as
soldiers in the army of God and sent out into the battlefield. Henceforth,
we are in constant warfare fighting an Enemy who will not leave us until we
die! The only way that we are going to overcome the wiles of the devil is
by waiting on God. "Free me from the trap that is set for me, for You are my
refuge. In the shelter of Your presence, you hide those who fear you from
the intrigues of men; in Your dwelling, you keep them safe from accusing
tongues" (Psalm 31:4, 20). "He who dwells in the presence of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Surely He will save you from the
fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence" (Psalm 91:1, 3).
It is useless to fight the Enemy in our own human strength and based on our
own human experience because ours is not a battle against flesh and blood
but a warfare against spiritual forces (2 Corinthians 10:3, 4; Ephesians
6:11, 12). The Israelites often tried to resort to fleshly means to defeat
their enemies. But God kept telling them that all these efforts were in
vain. "The deliverance of the righteous comes from the Lord; He is their
stronghold in time of trouble" (Psalm 37:39). "Only in returning to Me and
waiting for Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your
strength. But you would have none of it. You said, 'No, we will flee on
swift horses..' But the only swiftness you are going to see is the
swiftness of your enemies chasing you" (Isaiah 30:15, 16).
God's silence and slowness in acting on our behalf when we are under the
severe attack of our enemies may be due to two reasons: Either God wants to
"strengthen us" or He wants to "sanctify us"! Two passages in Scripture
reveal this truth- "He allowed those nations to remain to teach warfare to
the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle
experience" (Judges 3:2, 3) AND "Listen! The Lord is not too weak to save
you and He is not becoming deaf.. Your sins have cut you off from God. It
is because of all this evil that deliverance is far from us. No wonder we
are in darkness when we expect light" (Isaiah 59:1, 2, 9, 10). It is only
when we wait on the Lord and take time to examine ourselves in His presence
that we will understand the purpose for God's delay!
There may be times when our friends and family members may turn out to be
our enemies. The Scriptural prescription to this situation is again to wait
on the Lord. "Your enemies will be right in your own household. As for me,
I will look to the Lord for His help. I will wait confidently for God to
save me, and my God will certainly hear me" (Micah 7:6, 7).
How do we wait on God?
1. Pour out your heart before God.
Waiting on God is more than just praying. Prayer is a time when we present
our requests before God; waiting is a time when we simply open up ourselves
and literally pour out all that is within before the Lord. Prayer can be
offered in a hurry; waiting on God requires time. Prayer is on a specific
subject; waiting is on God alone. "Truly my soul silently waits for God
alone; for my expectation is from Him.. Trust in Him at all times, you
people; pour out your heart before Him" (Psalm 62:1,5,8). "O God, you are
my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul longs for You, my body longs for You."
(Psalm 63:1).
2. Saturate yourself with the Scriptures.
Waiting on God doesn't mean that we are passive or keep our minds blank. "I
wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I do hope" (Psalm 130:5).
The devil likes to occupy vacant and well-swept houses. So we should be
careful about this (Luke 11:24 to 26). We must feed ourselves richly with
the Word of God as we wait on the Lord.
3. Keep on serving God faithfully.
We must continue to serve the Lord faithfully even while we wait on Him to
work on our behalf. Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful in observing all
the commandments and regulations faithfully even when they did not receive
the answer to their prayers for a child (Luke 1:6, 7). Servants of God down
through the ages have testified that they had been soaking their pillows at
nights with tears, but God anointed them with the oil of gladness when they
stood on the pulpits. This is the power of waiting on God.
In conclusion, remember that it is too dangerous to become too busy to find
time to wait on God because of the pressures of ministry and the demands of
work. Waiting time is not a wasted time. Waiting on knees will bring us to
our journey's end quicker than walking on foot!
