Why Wait?

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 2:39 PM, simplejeff said:

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.

Thanks for taking the time to share Jeff. I haven't been on the computer much to reply, but I have been reading replies on my phone. 

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 3:04 PM, AnOrangeCat said:

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.

I love the username I do think it does help looking at past situations when we are in current situations of waiting. So often it seems easier to try and take the situation into control for ourselves, instead of taking that time to wait for God and His timing and answers. I have found out time and again that God usually solves the problem a lot better than I ever could have thought of or imagined.

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 3:10 PM, missmuffet said:

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. 

Hi MissMuffet, so good to hear from you. I do agree with you that prayer is such an important part of our lives and a part that we so often forget to do. 

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2019 at 5:14 PM, heavensflower said:

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. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to share. I am so glad that we have examples in the Bible, of people who did not necessarily wait, as we get to see the consequences, and hopefully encourage us to wait. And, at times when we have not waited, we have examples that we can look to as well, as we see them deal with their consequences, and perhaps have consequences of our own that we have to face. 

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 12:49 AM, Marilyn C said:

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. 

Thank you so much for sharing Marilyn. It is amazing how much more peaceful a situation can be when we are not pushing through and striving to get what we want done. I am so glad to hear from you. I have not been on my computer all that much, and most of my posts and replies have been from my phone. So I have not written as many responses as I could have in the past. God bless.

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 4:27 AM, Tzephanyahu said:

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

Greetings Tzephanyahu, good to hear from you and thank you so much for taking the time to share. I do agree, we can read a story in a short period of time, and forget just what a long period of time the actual story took. I was thinking something similar as I have been reading through the Old Testament, it can be so easy to forget a period of time happened between events.  God bless.

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 6:44 AM, PromisesPromises! said:

So true!  Great rewards are promised to those who wait.  How can our limited foresight, or even 20/20 hindsight compare to our Father's omniscience?  God's purposes will always be accomplished, but we can avoid much trouble to ourselves and others if we will faithfully seek His advice and wait.

Isaiah 40:27-31 New King James Version (NKJV)

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on 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. 

Thank you so much for the reminder of strength promised to those who wait. When I was in high school, this verse (vs 31) was our school verse motto. I appreciate you taking the time to share the positive benefits to waiting. God bless.

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 8:14 AM, turtletwo said:

 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) 

Hi Turtle,

Thank you for all your encouragement here at Worthy I love the verse you shared from Galatians 6:9, and the reminder not to become weary in doing well. Getting weary is something that can happen so easily and we have to watch out that it doesn't happen to us.

Your verse from Proverbs is so true too, we have to rely on God and cannot rely on ourselves and our own understanding. And like you said in Isaiah 55:9, His ways are so much higher than anything we could ever imagine. I have known this to be true so many times, in seeing God come through not only having answered a prayer, but far and beyond anything I could have ever asked.

You shared so many good things, I will definitely come back and look. God bless.

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 10:49 PM, Jostler said:

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.

Hi Jostler, I do agree sometimes it is easier to be busy doing than sitting and waiting. What you said made me even think of a situation where people are forced to wait, either for a medical appointment or at an airport while waiting for flights. It seems so much easier to find something to do to occupy the time, than just to be calm and wait.

Thank you for sharing. God bless.

[Annette]

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 7:01 AM, Jostler said:

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.... 

Hi again Jostler,

It was interesting reading your addition to your initial response. At church on Sunday, the pastor suddenly stopped speaking and looked at his watch. It was just after 11am. He asked us if any of us were distracted from listening to the message because we were thinking about lunch and what would be nice to eat. In the same way, the pastor was saying that when we spend time with God and in His Word, we should be longing for the next time that we get to spend time with God. 

I agree with you, that it is something we have to be intentional about, as it is not something that comes naturally or easy