Why Wait?

[Annette]

Hi guys 

I hope you have all had a good weekend. 

A topic of conversation that comes up often in our house is the importance of waiting on God and His timing. At times people will say, "wait on God" and when something seems to be taking too long people ask "what are you going to do about it?" I am sure that the 40 years in the wilderness was a long time to wait for the promised land. 

Over the years I have had to learn,  and am still learning that the results are a lot better when I do wait,  rather than rush in and make rash decisions. 

In a world where we can send and receive messages instantly, pay bills from home and buy things online,  we tend to want everything to happen quickly and when it is convenient for us. 

I think of David waiting patiently, even when he knew he was the next to be King. I think of Joseph and how his brothers reacted when he told them of his dreams.  But, when the time was right,  these things that these men were waiting for did come to pass. 

So,  back to every day life,  and a topic of meat (a topic that goes down very well in our first too), I think of those pork ribs being cooked slowly on a smoker or a turnkey cooking for Thanksgiving.  Both of these meats can be taken out because we are impatient and want to have them right away,  but they are so much nicer when they are given the proper time to cook.

I have learned and am still learning that it is better to wait and even when I don't want to wait and prefer to make a fuss,  it doesn't change anything. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on waiting. Or how you cope when you are waiting for an answer from God.

[simplejeff]

I think that seeing (by looking up and reading in the Bible)  how often , and in context casually at first,  "wait" "waiting" "waited" ,  or "Be Still"  ,  "Cease" ,  and so on

is in Scripture,  barely begins to begin to begin learning what Yahweh has in store for His people, Ekklesia (OT and NT),

both in this life,  and in the life to come.

[AnOrangeCat]

I've found that it pays to look at situations where I was made to wait without realizing it and there was a good pay off and on the times when I chose not to wait and it didn't turn out so well. Looking at that gives a lot of incentive to wait and trust that God's got it under control and has something in mind.

[missmuffet]

If a person is genuinely asking God for direction they will pray on that and put it in His hands. They will give it a few days and then proceed. God will open or close the doors according to His will and plan He has for you. 

[heavensflower]

It is best to wait on God's timing. Look at how long it took Abraham to wait! There was that mess with Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael, Sarah got tired of waiting, it was her idea, she was desperate. A woman without children was a considered a real source of shame back then, using servants as surrogate mothers was common. But God did not approve of it. But he had a plan for Hagar and Ishmael. 

 

I have learned to wait on the Lord. And I have learned to do the Lord's work. The Lord has saved me from myself. 

[Marilyn C]

Hi Annette,

Like you I`ve had to learn through much experience not to rush or push, or try to make something happen. Nowadays I think I`ve become content in all situations and enjoy what God is doing now and trust Him for the future. Doesn`t mean I don`t prepare, whatever, but as I pace myself, know my limits, then I can more easily sense God`s timing or direction.

regards, Marilyn. 

[Tzephanyahu]

Shalom Annette,

Great subject.  Waiting in the Bible fascinates me. When you read short verses about someone's life, we can sometimes assume that everything happen in a short period of time, which is silly really. A good commentary helps fill in the blanks and history. I recommend Chuck Missler for a deep dive into each book.

The life I often refer to when speaking about waiting is Abraham and Moses.

Moses lived 40 years in Egypt before leaving for the wilderness in which he spent another 40 years! Amazing. Half a life living as royalty and the other half living as a shepherd in a tent. What an amazing training session! 80 years of preparation for a great work of leading Israel. Still, at the age of 76 he surely must have thought he would be living out his days in the wilderness with his wife in peace. He never knew that wonder day he would find the burning bush. 

Some of us here might reach that same kind of age when Yahweh commissions us for a mission. That's so cool.

Love & Shalom

[turtletwo]

 Love the topic, Annette! Very practical. It is one we can all relate to. At times it feels as if God just doesn't answer us as quickly as we'd like.

A big help to me is to meditate on scriptures regarding waiting on the Lord. I can draw hope and strength from them.

When we feel like we are just spinning our wheels in this life we can find encouragement in verses such as "Let us not become weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." (GALATIANS 6:9)

Sometimes our faith wavers. But waiting on the Lord and faith go hand in hand. Heb 11:6 says "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."

This verse conveys that coming to Him and yielding/surrendering to His will is important.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight." (PROVERBS 3:5-6)

We can remind ourselves that our eternal God is fully timeless. He is the only One who had no beginning. He alone knows the future. This makes him unique. He is therefore worthy of our trust. 

When things don't make sense to us is the time to remember that "HE is God and WE are not."

"For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9)

So He can be trusted! Because He is perfect... and perfectly loving.
 
"The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." (Lamentations 3:26) 

[Jostler]

I think waiting is a discipline all who  desire to know His  voice and be led by Him will learn.  It's one thing to hear Him and be trained to instant  obedience, but the  other side of that coin is learning  to sit and be still with  Him when He isn't giving us  something specific to do.   In some  ways, seeking Him in stillness is harder than obeying His revealed will.

[Jostler]

Quote

Psa 46:10

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

I couldn't leave this alone   My conviction  that this idea of waiting on Him and stillness in His presence is more important  now than it ever has been is  strong.  It's always been important, but in this season, when His exaltation  in the earth and above all nations is getting so close, it's just not optional any more in any sense.

There is a knowing of God found in stillness that cannot be had under any  other circumstance.  Laying aside everything about daily life, time pressure or earthly concerns, by choice, to spend time just sitting with Him, no agenda, no reason and no expectation but to just sit, keep quiet and wait until He shows up is a powerful thing.

If you choose to obey Him in the exhortation He delivers in the verse above, I bet the first thing  you'll discover is the unruliness of your  own mind.  I found it takes PRACTICE to be still.  And not a little of it.  I'd  purpose to be still and just let Him reveal Himself in His way, whenever He chose, still my  own thinking and wait...and thirty seconds later my mind was waaaaay off over there thinking about what I had to get  done at work the next day, figuring out what I wanted for dinner.....ANYTHING but waiting in  stillness.

So, I'd have to go rope it, hog tie it and drag it back into my  intention to be still and focus on Him.....and thirty  seconds later......and thirty  seconds later......lol

I did  find after a season the discipline  of stillness got easier to just abide in for longer and longer periods  of time, but it took some persistence.  Eventually, once submission  to His command to be still has gained a measure of stability, He  does show  up.   And reveal Himself.  These times can become some  of the most intensely transformative times where He causes heaps and leaps of change in us, conforming us to His  image.  In a day when He needs to move quickly to prepare us for what is ahead, submitting  to this waiting in stillness can truly accelerate our maturing.  It  is IMPOSSIBLE to spend time in His manifest presence and emerge unchanged.

Unfortunately, it  is a perishable skill to be able to still our minds.  We have to refresh this discipline regularly or we'll lose it.  Fortunately, His manifest presence is downright addictive....