How Do I Wait On The Lord

How Do I Wait on the Lord

Wed. Night March 25th 2009

Psalm 37:7

Introduction

How do you feel about having to wait? If you are like me, you don’t like to wait. I don’t enjoy standing in long lines at Wal Mart.

If you have ever been to an amusement park in the summer time? Talk about having to wait. Some of them still have little signs that are such an encouragement to as you stand in line. It would say something like: “from here, the wait is 30 minutes.”

I don’t like to wait to be served; I don’t like to wait on someone; I don’t like to wait on something. And so, one of my greatest struggles in the Christian life is to wait upon the Lord! But yet, God tells me to wait on Him

And so tonight we are going to have to address one of the major decisions of our Christian life. God commands me to wait upon Him; am I going to wait on Him?

Assuming that your answer is yes; I am going to give you some understanding and help in our struggle to wait upon the Lord.

Read Scriptures: Psalm 37:7

I. Why we are waiting is just as important to God as what we are waiting for.

From the time God called Abraham and told him that he was to be a father of a great nation until the birth of Isaac was 24 years. Obviously God was teaching Abraham something as he waited those 24 years.

From the time that God promised Jacob that his family would leave Egypt and become the nation of Israel was 400 years. Obviously God was teaching the Israelites something as they waited those 400 years.

From the time the Israelites left Egypt until they entered the Promised Land was 40 years. Obviously God was teaching the Israelites something as they wandered in the wilderness for those 40 years.

Paul gives us a clue as to why we wait in the Epistle of Romans.

Romans 8:23 “Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”

We wait so that during the time of waiting we become what God wants us to be. Not only do we become what God wants us to be in terms of eternity but we also become what God wants us to be here and now.

II. Waiting on the Lord requires trusting in the Lord.

I might wait a little while for someone I do not trust; but I am going to grow impatient pretty fast and stop waiting.

Therefore God puts us in a position that we have to learn to trust Him. We are put in positions of having to trust God because God tells us His perspective of a situation is generally going to be different from our perspective of a situation and therefore the wait might be longer.

2 Peter 3:8-9 “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Things get rough for us and we start calling for God to shut this world down. But God’s perspective is that there is one more person out there that must get saved so I got to hold up everything.

My problem is that I want what God has for me but I don’t want to wait for it in His timing. I want His gifts for me but I don’t want His timing. But rather than wait for His timing I would rather settle for what I can get for myself.

II. Waiting on the Lord requires humility.

1 Peter 5:5-6 “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

Think about this with me. Waiting is something, by its nature, that only the humble can do with any type of grace. A husband might wait for his wife but it may not be with a whole lot of grace. Yelling and screaming at your wife to hurry up is not grace.

If I am forced to wait; I am not in control; someone or something else is in control and I have to yield to their control and that is humbling.

This world is so deceiving. It wants you to move up the ladder of success because the higher you move up you don’t have to wait. Do you think for one second the President has to wait for too many things? I think not!