Wait on Me!
By
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
OPENING: - Oftentimes it is difficult for one to do what they encourage others to do. For example my mother will tell whomever the moment they mention they may do not feel well - to go see the doctor, but when she has something wrong she will not want to go see the doctor and we always tell her you need to go to the doctor, she will reply if it gets worse I will. The same thing happens when it comes to faith sometimes. Someone can say pray for such and such and we can say I believe God will work mightily on your behalf, but when it becomes something personal then we oftentimes struggle between faith and doubt.
I found myself doing something similar as well. There is something my wife and I are embarking upon and it seemed like things were not moving as fast as each of us would like for it to go. We had asked God for something and now we found ourselves waiting. I have faith that God can, and God will, but I find myself struggling between the Spirt and Flesh. The spirit was saying stand still and wait on God, but the flesh was saying hurry up I want it now. As I went through my day and thinking about how I could possibly speed up what I wanted to happen I heard these words in my spirit “Wait on Me”. Several years ago, I preached a message entitled “A Place Called Wait” and that place called wait is that desert between asking God for something and actually receiving from God that which you asked for. It is a place of uncertainty, frustration, anxiety, and faith testing that no-one ever enjoys and once again I found myself there having to wait.
Waiting for anything can produce many different emotions from anger, frustration, and hopelessness because if we are truthful regardless of how spiritual we think we are - most of us hate waiting for what we want.
Being in this flesh - we want everything done quickly, with new technology constantly being developed to meet the demands of a rapidly moving society our impatience is encouraged and our desire to wait is diminished. While technology strives to make our life easier and faster, God works on a very different plane. God says stand still and see while most of us live life like the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland running around no time to say hello – goodbye!!
According to Webster’s Dictionary waiting is to stay in place in expectation of, to delay serving (a meal), to serve as to wait tables, to remain stationary in readiness or expectation, to pause for another to look forward expectantly
Waiting Biblically is more than standing still with a level of expectation looking forward to what will be, but it is the process of becoming what God wants us to be.
UNDERSTAND: - Process is a series of progressive and interdependent steps by which an end is attained. What God does in us while we wait is as important, if not more important as what we are waiting for. It is not fatalistic resignation of hopelessness or despair. Waiting Biblical, is not a passive waiting around for something to happen with your hands in your pockets like you are waiting for the Bus. Waiting does not mean doing nothing.
Biblically those who wait are those who work, because they know their labor is not in vain in the Lord. WATCH THIS: - The farmer can wait for the harvest because they have done their work of sowing the seed and tending to the fields. Those who wait on God can go about their lives, confident that God will provide the meaning and conclusions to their lives and the harvest to their toil. Waiting is the confident, disciplined, expectant, active, and sometimes painful clinging to God knowing with surety that we will reap a reward.
SCRIPTURE: - Acts 1:1-14
FOCUS VERSE: - Acts 1:4 “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me”.
Waiting on the Lord may be one of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life. When Jesus promised that he would return, he instructed His disciples to wait for the promise of the Father. He was telling them that this was a means of experiencing His peace, His prosperity, and His power. In waiting they would catch the mighty wind of God's Spirit, see the move of God, receive the power of God, and ultimately change the world.
Waiting on the Lord requires FAITH. It takes faith to trust in God because trusting Him doesn’t mean I am going to get what I want when I want it. Trusting Him means that I believe God will provide when the timing is right. Having faith while waiting on God means you believe there is nothing God can’t do! When he Jesus told the disciple to wait in Acts 1:4 “And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me”. He doesn’t tell them how long to wait He just said wait for the promise of the Father. This took faith trusting God can and Will do what He said no matter how long it takes.
WATCH THIS: - it is a process which is a series of progressive and interdependent steps by which an end is attained. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end”. So, while they were waiting in faith that God can and God will, they had to put 2 Peter 1: 5 - 8 into practice and add to their faith patience which is a virtue. Virtue meaning the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Patience creates in you the understanding that not only is God who He says He is, but I believe God will show me the right time to do something. God’s timing is always perfect. You will never waste time waiting on God. Understand waiting is God's way of seeing if we will trust him before we move forward, that trust is a trust that has added to it patience.
Waiting on God reminds us that God is in control and we are not. God uses waiting to make us humble. As waiting reveals our spectacular lack of control, it exposes our weakness and vulnerability. God is in charge, and we are not. Humility is defined as a modest or low view of one’s own importance. It is the opposite of pride.
Humility is the disposition which prepares the soul for living on faith. Therefore, we have no reason for pride or boasting. Instead, we should embrace our weakness in the form of humility and approach God with a proper view of ourselves Psalm 8:3-4 “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him”?. There is something to be said about true humility. There’s a certain amount of strength and courage that’s required to be truly humble. In today’s world there is so much emphasis placed on success, professional and religious titles, salaries and possessions and so on that we are faced with falling into that trap and live our lives striving to be and have more or do we humble ourselves to the grace of God knowing and accepting our true place in this world as a lowly servant?
Waiting on God increases our strength. During those times, we wait patiently on the Lord. We know that deep down he is working - while it may be underneath, hidden deep in our character. In due time, God will reveal everything he's grown in us. Those who wait will never be put to shame. We will never be disappointed. It is during our waiting that STRENGTH is being added.
It takes strength to decide not to move until God says move. The Bible tells us that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. We must seek God for the strength to stand firm as we are waiting on God.
STORY: - In a dream, God told a man to go outside and push against a huge boulder in his front yard. So, every morning for the next few weeks, the man went outside and pushed against the rock. He pushed and groaned and shoved, but the rock never budged.
Finally, in a fit of frustration the man fell to his knees and lifted his eyes to heaven. What were you thinking, Lord? he cried, wiping sweat from his brow. You told me to push this rock, and I've been pushing it for weeks, yet it has not moved an inch!
A voice from heaven rumbled among the clouds, then whispered in the man's ear. I told you to push the stone, I didn't tell you to move it. I'm the only one who can move it, and when you're ready, I will. By the way, look at your hands.
The man looked at his hands. They had grown callused and tough with the work, and his arms bulging with muscles. Though his efforts seemed fruitless, he had grown strong. You see there's a hidden benefit in waiting. In times of waiting my soul is revived and spirit is renewed. Isaiah wrote, Isaiah 40:31 says "but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as an eagle…”
Understand God Works While We Wait. Something happens while nothing seems to be happening. God uses waiting to change us – remember it is a process.
I didn’t know this before I started studying for this message and I truly believe this is what God wanted me to understand personally and bring to you because I must be the first partaker.
Unseen growth: The Chinese bamboo tree is one of the most remarkable plants on earth. Once the gardener plants the seed, he will see nothing but a single shoot coming out of the bulb for five full years! That tiny shoot, however, must have daily food and water. During all the time the gardener is caring for the plant, the exterior shoot will grow less than an inch.
At the end of five years, however, the Chinese bamboo will perform an incredible feat. It will grow an amazing ninety feet tall in only ninety days!
Now ask yourself this: When did the tree actually grow? During the first five years, or during those last ninety days? 5 is the number of Grace.
The answer lies in the unseen part of the tree, the underground root system. During the first five years, the fibrous root structure spreads deep and wide in the earth, preparing to support the incredible heights the tree will eventually reach.
Wikipedia suggests that the tree has been measured to grow (122 cm) or 48 inches in a 24-hour period and can reach a maximum growth rate of (99 cm) or 39 inches per hour for short periods of time.
The Chinese Bamboo Tree is a picture of faith, patience, strength, control, and timing. When it comes to seeing the promises of God unfold in your life, it will and can take time. There are many dynamics at work unseen in you divine timing, foundational stability, seasons, preparation, and positioning.
As you wait, we must continue holding unto God’s unchanging hand know He is working. He’s the master orchestrator and He’s adding and increasing in ways that we are not even aware of. We must submit yourself to the process of what God is doing. We must realize as the Bible says in James 1:4, “But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing”. When we wait on God “Wait on Me” and allow Him to have His Will and Way in our life we become fully developed, lacking in nothing. Standing, trusting, and holding on to God’s GRACE.
CLOSING: - Wait on Me – God is saying I am in control, I know the thoughts I have for you to bring you to an expected end. I am working some things out in you and causing you to develop strength, patience, stability, humility and wisdom. I have not forsaken you neither have I forgot about you. Just a little while and what I am doing in you I will complete, and you will be wanting nothing.
Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
