The blessing of waiting on God
Psalms 40:1-5
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
waited -to expect :- gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon
a.) He turned toward me
b.) He heard me while I was calling him he heard me
c.) While I was calling him
d.) Isaiah 30:18-19
e.) 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.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
Isaiah 40:30-31
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
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
Yes, you read it correctly. "Blessed are all who wait for him
As I wait I position myself to be blessed
I must position my self in a position to be blessed
Wait 1. To look forward to eagerly. 2. To continue with expectation. 3. To be in the position of readiness or to be reserved for. All of those are actions we must have to receive from God.
DOES NOT MEAN TO DO NOTHING
WAITING INVOLVES AN
EXPECTATION BASED ON KNOWLEDGE AND TRUST
Without knowledge and trust, we simply won’t wait—at least not without a great deal of anxiety—and usually not without taking matters into our own hands.
Based on its past performance, we wait for the news to come on at six o’clock because we believe the TV station will be operating. For many years they have continued to do so, and so we trust the staff to give the news at six o’clock.
Or, we know that throughout our lives we have seen the sun rise every single day. It has never failed even once. We know or believe, therefore, we can count on it based on its past performance, so we wait for the light and the warmth. But above all, we are expecting God’s laws of creation to continue to work.
Psalms 130:5-8
5.I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; For with the LORD there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. 8 And He will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.
As the watchman waits for the sun because he knows it is reliable, so the Psalmist waits for the Lord even more because he knows the Lord is more reliable than the rising of the sun. In other words, waiting is fundamentally wrapped up with knowing, trusting, and believing in the Lord and His person (His character) and in His promises.
The ability to wait on the Lord stems from being confident and focused on who God is and in what God is doing.
It means confidence in God’s person: confidence in His wisdom, love, timing, understanding of our situation and that of the world. It means knowing and trusting in God’s principles, promises, purposes, and power.
WAITING INVOLVES SEEKING THE LORD
Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.
On the positive side, waiting always means seeking the Lord. When we enter God’s waiting room we are not to just sit as one might in the doctor’s chair. Rather, we need to spend time seeking Him. This means:
WAITING INVOLVES
TAKING ACTION AT THE RIGHT TIME
There is a time to plow, a time to sow, and a time to reap, but they are never done all together or at the same time.
WAITING INVOLVES
RESTING IN GOD’S TIMING
Psalm 145:15 The eyes of all look to Thee, And Thou dost give them their food in due time.
Galatians 6:9 And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap if we do not grow weary.
Waiting means resting in God’s timing and activity while taking care of our responsibilities—the things we can do and should do as set forth in the Word of God.
On the one hand we are to rest and be still. This stands opposed to running ahead of the Lord and taking matters into our own hands and turning to our own human strategies. For instance, when one’s spouse is acting in disobedience to the Word (as it is perceived by the other spouse) the great temptation is to nag and brow beat the other partner with arguments and complaining, etc., but Peter’s direction to us in such situations is far different. Our responsibility is to seek to win them by Christlike behavior while we wait on the Lord to work in their lives, using our testimony if He sees fit to do so.
WAITING MEANS
TRUSTING IN GOD AND HIS GOODNESS
Lamentations 3:25 The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.
Psalm 62:5-8
My soul, wait in silence for God only, For my hope is from Him. 6 He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be shaken. 7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. 8 Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Isaiah 8:17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust (look unto, hope) in him. (NIV)
The opposite of waiting and resting by faith is turning to our solutions of self-protection because of anger, fear, and jealousy. We fret, we moan and groan, we withdraw or run from the problem.
We may try to control others, call attention to ourselves to bolster our feelings of inadequacy or to defend ourselves against the comments of others. Out of fear of failure or loss, we may compromise our convictions or what we know is right. But fear, which has displaced faith in the Lord, causes us to lean on the arm of the flesh.
Lev 26:3-4
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Psalms 104:27
27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.
Gal 6:9-10
9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
We are blessed when we wait on the Lord because the Lord rises to show us compassion. Obviously the Lord never sleeps or slumbers (Psalm 121:4),
Psalms 121:1-4
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
He lifted me out f the clay out of the pit
He came to see about me he brought me up out of the miry cly
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Waiting is so hard. Sometimes it seems like God is late, way late, in responding to our earnest requests. We can be in such a hurry and can get frustrated if things don't happen quickly.
Waiting for God – He Acts on our Behalf
Are you waiting for God? He acts on our behalf as we wait for Him. “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him”
Isaiah 64:4
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
Waiting for God – He Strengthens Us
As you are waiting for God, He strengthens you. “But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
God strengthens us during trials.
The eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to high spot and wait for the winds to come.
When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm.
While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm; it simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.
When the storms of life come upon us, we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us; we can allow God's power to lift us above them.
God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure, and disappointment into our lives. We can soar above the storm. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.”
Waiting for God – He Blesses Us
When waiting for God, He blesses you. “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him” (Isaiah 30:18).
What does it mean to be blessed by God while we wait on Him? As we wait on God and His timing, He can accomplish so much in our hearts. Often we find new purpose in life, receive answers to prayer, see God work, increase our faith, and most often we see God’s perfect plan fulfilled in our situation. Remember, waiting is not wasted time!
There was a young lady who went to the doctor her annual physical and the doctor ordered a routine chest x-ray. A lesion was found on her lung and a CAT scan was ordered. After the CAT scan, other tests were done. She asked her church and family to pray as we waited in expectancy to see how God would answer.
During times of trial, depending on God to bring us through is sometimes difficult. However, we can always reflect on other times of suffering and how we were kept by His power.
My husband has been going to a cardiologist for the last two years and the x-rays have been negative. The cardiologist continues to check on this spot on the lung every six months. As we await results we trust God and know He is in control. Today we praise and thank God once again for a negative test. He alone has acted on our behalf as we wait for Him
While experiencing trials at the hands of his enemies, David asked God for help, but the answer did not come
immediately. He waited--and then God worked! What a change took place: David went from a pit
to a highway, from miry clay to a rock, and from crying to singing!
Waiting for God to help us is not easy, but David received four benefits from waiting: (1) God lifted him out of his despair,
(2) God set his feet on solid ground,
(3) God steadied him as he walked, and
(4) God put a new song of praise in his mouth. Often blessings cannot be received unless we go through the trial of waiting.
I recently heard a story about a young man who needed a car. He couldn't afford one, at least not the payments of a car loan. He prayed and waited ... for a short time. But then, he
grew anxious and went to a dealership. He found a car he liked and they arranged a loan for him. The problem was that he really couldn't afford the payments. That Sunday after church,
he asked some people to come out and see his new car. Two men stood off at a distance. One said to the other, "I guess he won't need my car now. I had an extra car that I was
going to give him." If he had waited a little longer he would have had his prayers answered with a free car. But waiting can seem so hard to do!
When we think of Abram being told that he was going to have a son, he believed God. But there was a time later, when he grew anxious because it
wasn't happening. Rather than waiting for God's plan to be fulfilled through his wife Sarah, Abraham resorted to having a child with his wife's handmaid, Hagar.
While acceptable in his culture at the time, it wasn't with God. It was a big mistake and caused a lot of problems for the family then and for the world today! (Genesis 16 tells this story.)
Waiting is hard. Sometimes we get anxious. Let's pray and trust and look for God's timing. Let's learn to wait so that we can receive God's best, God's way.
Sometimes we question why we have to wait to see God bring our dreams and God-given desires to pass. It reminds us of Caleb in the Old Testament.
He was one of the 12 spies that scoped out the Promised Land and brought back a good report, believing and trusting that God would give the children of Israel the land He promised them.
But Caleb was out-numbered. Only he and Joshua believed God at His word and were spared. The other 10 spies were intimidated by the giants in the land.
They convinced the rest of the Israelite s it couldn't be done and as a result caused an entire generation to die in the wilderness never to enter into Promised Land.
(So much for “group think” to find God’s will. God didn't ask them to vote as to whether His promise was true, He expected them to follow His leading.
Strong leaders will hear from God and launch out no matter what! The Israelite’s committee system, cost them 40 years in the wilderness! Selah!)
But we might ask why would Caleb have to wait 40 years with the others when he was faithful? We must remember that God’s timing is always perfect!
God did some great things for Caleb in those waiting years and made him better prepared to conquer the land! What did God do in those years?
The Bible tells us that God grew the strength of his army. Some of the tribes diminished in size in the wilderness, however the tribe of Judah, of which Caleb was part, increased in number.
By the time the Israelite s were ready to conquer the Promised Land, Caleb had a better commander-in-chief to serve.
Moses was anointed to lead the people out of Egypt, but Joshua was a warrior-general and better equipped to conquer the land.
This new army of second-generation Israelite s were dependent on God not on Egypt and therefore better prepared to follow God’s leader, Joshua.
There were things that God did in Caleb personally during those years, as well. He grew in leadership skills and earned influence throughout the nation.
Remember that Caleb had actually seen the fruitfulness of the land which God was giving them…a land of milk and honey.
And that dream of God’s Promised Land grew within him during those years. Caleb learned to trust and rely upon God for his every need during those wandering years.
There are times when God’s answer to our request is WAIT! Instead of getting angry and impatient, instead of blaming God and others, we should be asking the Lord what He is trying to teach us and then do what He is showing us during that precious waiting time.
If you are in a waiting period, what can you do? First, hang on to the good things God has given you and allow Him to grow them in your life.
Instead of dwelling on what you do not yet have, concentrate upon what God has given you and praise Him for it! Don’t put your life on hold waiting for a dream to come true.
In doing so, you will miss out on the blessings God has for you in the here and now!
Ask yourself whether you are under the right ministry. God will speak into your life through the leader you submit to.
Caleb had Moses and then Joshua. Make sure you are in the fellowship where God has assigned you and then listen. God will speak to you through your leader.
Don’t isolate yourself. Use the waiting time to grow.
Stay out of trouble and don’t try to make your God-given dream come true. Don’t break down doors that God has not yet opened.
Learn to be content in the place where God has you and at the same time continue to pursue all God has for you.
Hang on to the promises that God has spoken to your heart. Remember God will always keep His Word! And even though situations may seem impossible, remember that we serve the God of the impossible!
The woman with the issue of Blood waited for her Miracle she waited while waiting she tried all the world had to offer Doctors Home made remedies neighbors cures and suggestions. The bible says she has spent all that she had Bug Glory to God The master of the sea came by Glory to God the creator of heaven and earth came by Glory to God don't allow the wait to cause you to give up you are one praise one shout away from your Miracle
