Wait on God
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When one goes to an amusement park, the most dreaded part is waiting in line for the rides. When riding in the car on the way to Grandma’s house, the question comes every few minutes: “are we there yet?”. A person wanting to see the doctor will get up early, drive to town, show up in time for their appointment only to sit and wait for hours at times to see the doctor. With the mail system the way it has been lately, one often will wait for weeks on end for their package to arrive. People today are accustomed to waiting yet even though it is a regular and expected inconvenience, it is often not easy.
Psalm 27:14, “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Isaiah 30:18, “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”
There are times in a Christian’s life when they must wait on God. As with other aspects of life, Christians often become tired of waiting on God. David was tired of waiting for God to deliver him from Saul. Job became tired of waiting for God to deliver him from the trials that Satan threw upon him. Even Paul struggled with waiting on God to deliver him from his thorn in the flesh. In the book of Revelation the martyred Christians were tired of waiting on God to bring true justice to the world. While living right and working for God can be difficult, sometimes the even more difficult task presented to Christians is waiting on God.
There are many promises that God has made and each one is absolute, true, and will come to pass. God is a God of absolute truth that is not capable of a lie (Titus 1:2). The outside forces that often influence man’s promises do not have an affect on God’s promises. Time does not change God’s promises (2 Peter 3:8). God’s will or desires does not change (James 1:17). God’s capability to fulfil His promises never changes because He is all powerful and always will be. Therefore God’s promises of eternal life, heaven, justice, vengeance, rest, relief, and joy are absolute. All of these promises will be fulfilled at the time that God has appointed. Therefore the difficult concept for the faithful Christian is not whether or not these promises will be fulfilled, but when they will be fulfilled. How long must a Christian wait to experience these things? How long before there is no more sorrow, sickness, dying, pain? How long before there is justice for the oppressed, downtrodden, and abused? How long before there is rest for the weary?
The faithful Christian will spend their entire life waiting on God in one way or another. The Christian life is a life of patience, endurance, and the all dreaded waiting. Waiting for God does not mean that one can become lazy, go to sleep spiritually, or abandon effort. Waiting on God is different than sitting in the chair of a waiting room simply passing the time. Waiting on God demands continual effort being pushed into that which is right. For Noah, waiting on God was building the ark. For Moses, waiting on God was leading Israel through the wilderness for 40 years. For the prophets, waiting on God was preaching God’s message even though they were being persecuted for doing so. Waiting on God means action, obedience, servitude. Waiting on God means a readiness for any new opportunity or work. Waiting on God means endurance, pushing forward in God’s kingdom with 100% effort knowing that He will fulfill His promises and that all will be made right in the end.
Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
