WHAT IT MEANS TO WAIT ON GOD
In the culture we live in; we don't like to wait. Let me be honest with you right here. This is how much I don't like waiting: I purposely schedule to be 5 minutes late to every meeting with a friend, just to make sure I won't have to wait for them. This is ridiculous but it's actually true. I don't know anyone who likes to wait for people.
We don't like waiting rooms at the doctor.
We don't like being on waiting lists.
We don't like queuing in a line waiting for it to finally be our turn.
We don't like waiting on busses, Phone calls, texts. We just don't like waiting. Period.
This is a microwave generation. We want it all and we want it now. ASAP! No time wasted!
And as believers, it seems no different. Here we find ourselves waiting for our prayers to be answered, waiting for new doors to open, waiting for our spouses, waiting for God's promises to come to pass and the list goes on and on and on.
There is an obvious pattern in the Bible of God promising one thing and it coming to pass several chapters later.
God's timing of announcement is usually never the time of fulfillment.- Pastor John Gray
This whole waiting on God thing really started bothering me on my Journey with Christ, because like I told you earlier, I don't like waiting. Waiting is out of fashion. And what does it mean to wait on the Lord anyways? Is it like sitting at a bus stop waiting on the Bus to come by? Is it like waiting at a restaurant for your food to be ready? Or is it like waiting on test results after an exam?
Well, let's see what waiting on God really is about.
I wait [patiently] for the Lord,
my soul [expectantly] waits,
And in His word do I hope.
Psalm 130:5 AMP
The amplified version of the Bible has three words that stand out to me: Patience, Expectation and Hope.
1. Patience
Waiting on the Lord has nothing to do with time. To us waiting equals investing time. But the moment we start counting minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years of us "waiting" on God, we will end up disappointed because we are focused on ourselves by exaggerating our own efforts.
"I have not gossiped in three days...I have been praying for this to happen for five years....I have been serving in this Church for seven years..."
I, I, I... we need to step out of the centre and remind ourselves who this is really about and look to God. You see, God is always on time. Even when we don't feel like He is (and believe me I feel that a lot of times) God is not bound to time the way we are. His plans for you are eternal. He sees the entire picture from the moment He formed you in your mother's womb up until the day of His return.There must be a good reason patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit because it is so natural to start counting and to get impatient on this walk with God. practice patience in your wait and keep your eyes on God, not on the clock.
2. It's about expectation and hope
One thing the world is teaching us is to lower our expectations. Or even better, don't have any at all. If you don't have any expectations no one will fail to meet them and you won't be disappointed. Right? Wrong! I refuse to let the enemy rob me of the expectations I have in my God and the hope I place in Him. I used to listen to this one song by Youthful Praise called Great Expectations
For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11) Now you can have great expectations.
Having great expectations and placing our hope in our God shows that we believe the promises of God. That His words will work for our good and basically that that which He says will come to pass and that He is who He says He is. It shows that we believe that He loves us and because He loves us we can expect great things.
"Whoever believes in Him [...and relies on Him]
will not be disappointed [in his expectations]."
-Romans 10:11 AMP
3.There is a promise in the wait
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him]
Will gain new strength and renew their power;
They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun];
They will run and not become weary,
They will walk and not grow tired.
- Isaiah 40:31
This is the promise that awaits those who wait for God. By waiting on Him we show that we totally rely on Him and nothing or no one else. It's a sign of trust and surrender. So whatever you are believing God for know that He is faithful, that He is never late and that there is a great promise awaiting you.
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