INTRODUCTION
- Jas 1:3 - patience is a product of faith
- Gal 5:22 - patience is a fruit of the Spirit
- The Bible teaches that we should be patient with one another
- But there is a different kind of patience - "waiting on the Lord"
- We are conditioned by the world to "get it now"
- The church has become impatient, impetuous and impulisive
- But in God, there are timings
- By missing these timings we miss many things from God
- We must learn to wait upon the Lord
MAIN TEXT
Isa 40:28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength.
- He imparts power to us
- Power; koach (ko’-akh) - force, might, fruits, substance, wealth, possessions
- Strength; `otsmah (ots-maw’); - abundance, strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
- Regardless of who you are, a time will come when your own strength will fail you
- There are times when our own resources are not enough
31 But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
- Wait; Look patiently, Tarry
- This is an active word
- There is a balance here (we are looking for the unction of God, but we are patient while we wait)
- Strength; same word as power in vs 29- force, might, fruits, wealth, possessions
- Mount up - arise, ascend, leap, increase, shoot-forth
EXAMPLE
John 8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?" 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
- Jesus waited on the Holy Spirit
- Even though all the attention was on Him
- Even though they kept pressing for an answer
- He wasn’t pressured into an answer
- Jesus waited on the Lord (The Father) and until He got the word and what a word it was...
- The word was directly from the throne, It was full of godly wisdom, It confounded & convicted the pharisees and scribes
- After the word from the Lord, He didn’t add to it, He went back to "ignoring" them
Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
- Strengthen - establish, increase, fortify
- These benefits come when we WAIT, not take off in our own strength and our own wisdom
There is also a rest in the Lord, for those who will wait upon Him
- When we think about waiting on the Lord, it does not necessarily bring a picture of rest and serenity
- These are the times we need to re-condition ourselves for
- The church needs to learn how to tarry
- To enter into the timings of God
Ps 37:7-11
7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
- Don’t worry about the heathen that are living it up in their sin
- We need to keep our eyes on Jesus, The Word, and worry about keeoing His commands and hearing His voice
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret--it only causes harm.
- Give it up, quit stewing and plotting, you are only hurting yourself
- Prov 20:22 Do not say, "I will recompense evil"; Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.
- God is the Judge and He will take care of His business
- He is jealous over His people (2 Chro 16:9)
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
- Those who will wait upon God and not try to do it in their own strength
- We will reign with Christ in the New Jerusalem
- We will inherit the earth even in this age (Isa 40:29)
- While we tarry we will enter into such a rest
CONCLUSION:
- There is a maturation that happens while we wait upon the Lord
- He increases us bit by bit
- Isa 28:9 "Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? 10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little."
- If we will wait upon the Lord and allow Him to construct our lives line upon line and precept upon precept
- Lam 3:26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
- But if we will wait quietly upon the Lord
- He will renew our strength
