Experiencing God

Waiting on the Lord

Sometimes as you begin adjusting your life to God, he will require that you wait on him. This is not because God cannot keep up with you or that he does not know what to do next. God is interested in a love relationship with you. Your waiting on him develops your absolute dependence on him. Your waiting on him assures that you will act on his timing and not your own. The Scriptures frequently command waiting on the Lord:

Psalm 5:3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 33:20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
he is our help and our shield.

Psalm 37:34 Wait for the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

Psalm 38:15 I wait for you, O LORD;
&n bsp; you will answer, O Lord my God.


Isaiah 40:31 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.

You may think of waiting as a passive, inactive time. Waiting on the Lord is anything but inactive. While you wait on him, you will be praying with a passion to know him, his purposes, and his ways. You will be watching circumstances and asking God to interpret them by revealing to you his perspective. You will be sharing with other believers to find out what God is saying to them. As you wait on the Lord, you will be very active in asking, seeking, and knocking: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matt 7:7-8).

While you wait, continue doing the last thing God told you to do. In waiting you are shifting the responsibility of the outcome to God--where it belongs. Then, when God gives you specific guidance, he will do through you more in days and weeks than you could ever accomplish in years of labor. Waiting on him is always worth the wait. His timing20and his ways are always right. You must depend on him to guide you in his way and in his timing to accomplish his purpose.

Andy Stanley also talks about actively waiting in his book, Visioneering, using Nehemiah as an example. God gave him a vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and he had to wait:

When Nehemiah heard about the conditions of Jerusalem, there was not one thing he could do to remedy the situation. Nothing. He was in the wrong place with the wrong job working for the wrong guy. And he had no way of changing any of that. He wasn't free to act on his vision.

But Nehemiah was not inactive. The four months between hearing about the condition of the walls and finally being able to do something about it was productive time for Nehemiah. He used this time to prepare for the day when God would release him to pursue his vision. He didn't allow the downtime to discourage or distract him. Nehemiah didn't allow his dream to die. He used the time for praying and planning.

Praying and planning will help you keep your vision alive. And that is criti cal. So pray. Pray for opportunities. Pray for the people who could help you launch your vision. And while you wait, plan! Develop a strategy. Dream on paper. Find the one or two things you can do and get busy.

You don't know what God is up to. It is better to be ready even if nothing happens than to run the risk of missing out if he brings an opportunity your way.


From Experiencing God

More Thoughts

Revelations 3:7-8


When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go,
only 1 of 2 things will happen, either He'll catch you when you fall, or
He'll teach you how to fly! 'The power of one sentence! God closes doors no man
can open & God opens doors no man can close. Have a blessed day and remember to
be a blessing...