Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. - Psalm 27:14
Just wait on God! Easier said than done right? Anyone who has ever journeyed through a season of waiting will testify that the times of waiting can prove the most strenuous, the most weary of all in our walk with God. The word "wait" connotes a passive idea, that we are somehow just sitting around twiddling our thumbs until God shows up. Nothing could be further from the truth!
We've often heard the phrase "God's timing is perfect," but coming to trust that phrase is an entirely different story. This is especially true when we are facing the seeming deadlines of humanity - My loved one will not survive another year without miraculous healing; I'm already 35 and have not conceived a child; I must move to this new city and begin my new job next week and our home has not sold - our circumstances can quickly cloud our vision of God's sovereignty.
For what in your life are you waiting upon God? Are you growing weary in the waiting? Does it seem as though you will never receive the answer you are crying out day and night to receive?
I think there is a much more pressing question to be asked. What do you hope to gain through your waiting? Is your entire focus zeroed-in on your request, almost as if it's a prize to be won. While the Holy Spirit within us may nudge otherwise, it is so easy to be drawn into the thinking that somehow our faithfulness to endure will prove we are worthy to receive our requests.
Now, I'm not saying that our persistence and consistency in prayer hold no weight when it comes to petitioning our Father (See Luke 18). However, in Luke 18 where Jesus teaches us to persist in prayer, He closes with a poignant question: "When the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on earth who have faith?" We are to persist in the asking, Yes. But the lesson God is truly attempting to teach us through this parable is that the purpose of our persistence is faith. If we just had faith perhaps all the knocking and crying out wouldn't stand so necessary.
Perhaps you are like me and are sitting there thinking to yourself, "Here we go again! Another if you just had a little faith lesson." I'll be the first to admit the desire for tangible answers. I want to know the "A" and the "B" that I need to add together to get to "C." Why can't God just tell us step 1, 2, and 3 and presto our prayers are answered? I believe God's methodology is found in the book of James. Let's read it together:
"For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." - James 1:3-4
Did you catch the end of that? The waiting, the enduring, makes us "perfect and complete, NEEDING NOTHING." How can we endure through a painful season of waiting, never actually receive what we are waiting for, and then come out the other side needing nothing?
Paul shared in Philippians 4:11-13 that he had discovered the secret. Whether he had received all that he needed (and Paul was certainly in need of much! - food, clothing, health for example) he was complete and content. The enduring pushed him to become more and more like Jesus, who is altogether perfect and lacks nothing. The same is true for us. As we endure through the waiting, keeping our eyes focused on the truth that our entire lives purpose is to grow more and more into the image of our Lord Jesus, we will reach a place of peace and contentment, no longer needing what we have been asking for. We will come to see that all we truly need is more of Jesus.
God's timing truly is perfect, even when it does not feel to be so. Waiting on God tough. In fact, it's more than tough. It can be grueling! But back to my question - What do you hope to gain through your waiting? Do you desire to be more like Jesus? Do you want to know what it feels like to find peace and contentment in all things? Do you want to be able to walk through life free from all the pressing deadlines of humanity, focused in on the only finish line that truly matters...our future eternity in glory?
I want to be clear. God does answer prayer!! I've seen God perform miraculous healing allow miraculous conception, provide financial breakthrough and bring loved ones who were thought without hope to the saving knowledge of Him. God answers prayer! But if you are in that season of waiting on answer, I encourage you to fix you eyes on Jesus.
Come before the throne with an open heart desiring to receive ALL that God desires to teach you throughout this journey. Allow God to make you more like Him. When we transform our thinking to view the painful wait as an opportunity to become fully developed into God's image, the cries of our heart no longer weigh as heavy burdens. We are able to simply trust God's timing and find joy in the fact that every day we wait and endure we am moving one step towards heaven. In that place of contentment, we lack nothing.
- Bill Slappey - Global Media Outreach - http://www.globalmediaoutreach.com/
- Margaret Feinburg - Wonderstruck - http://margaretfeinberg.com/
- Rob Moore - God's Timing in Moody's History - www.moodyradiosouth.fm
- Pastor Larry Duncan, Salem Baptist - God's Perfect Timing
- Seat at the City Gate - The Power of Prayer
- Dr. Scott Reynolds, North River Chruch - http://www.northriveronline.com/
- Rev. William McDowell - Liberty Baptist/Tuscaloosa Ministerial Alliance - http://tuscaloosaministerialalliance.org/president.html
- Pastor Benjamin Pena - Nueva Vision Church
- Arne Williams - Tuscaloosa Intercessor
- Joe and Mikki Powell - The Adoption Journey - http://powellblessings.blogspot.com/
Key Scriptures
Habakkuk 2:3 - For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
Isaiah 40:31 - But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Psalm 27:14 - Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord
Galatians 6:9 - And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
2 Peter 3:8-9 - But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 - I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and purpose for every work.
Romans 5:3-4 - More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
Blessings,
Melissa Rogers
Moody Radio South
www.moodyradiosouth.fm
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