How Long O Lord?
July 7, 2013 Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: God does things according to HIS time, not ours.
Focus Passage: Isaiah 40:28-31
Supplemental Passage: Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD. (Ps 27:14)
Introduction: We live in the microwave generation; we want it “right now”. Twitter has condensed communication to 140 characters; just small enough to read in entirety and feel that we have only scanned over it. The US Postal Service is faltering, partly because we enjoy the instant communications that email affords. When we call someone, we get impatient if they let it ring more than 4 times. We have become impatient, and, unfortunately, it affects how we relate to God. God does everything in HIS TIME.
I. Waiting for an answer
a. How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? (Psalms 13:1 NASB)
b. We pray and want our answer immediately, as if we do not have time to spare
c. Sometimes God answers immediately, sometimes He does not; it is always according to His time
II. Waiting for a sign
a. But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; (Matthew 12:39 NASB)
b. We want to know if we are taking the right path
c. Sometimes, God makes us wait to see if we are going to trust Him
III. Waiting for His Return
a. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven." (Acts 1:10-11 NASB)
b. We get frustrated with our world and the condition of society and yearn for Christ to return “right now”
c. The longer Jesus tarries, the more souls are saved
d. Will He find us being faithful when He returns?
Invitation: Most of us are waiting for an answer from God about something. Let’s use it to learn to trust Him and to make Him know to others.
