The Reward Of Waiting

The Reward of Waiting

John 20: 19-22

Wait has several meanings. 1: to stay in place in expectation of: AWAIT intransitive senses 1 a: to remain stationary in readiness or expectation *wait for a train* b: to pause for another to catch up usually used with up

2 a: to look forward expectantly *just waiting to see his rival lose* b: to hold back expectantly *waiting for a chance to strike*

So if you are waiting on something, then you ought to get it. One thing I know that serving the Lord will pay off after awhile. I don’t know just how some feel about waiting, but if you want your reward from God, then you got to wait on Him. There are three points I wish to share with you today about waiting on the Lord. 1. Waiting on the Lord will release you from your worries. 2. Waiting on the Lord will renew your strength. 3. Waiting on the Lord will restore you unto Him.

1. Waiting on the Lord will release you from your worries. Here they were in a room waiting on the Lord to reappear to them again, and convince Thomas that He had risen. But they were still worried, for they were still locked behind doors and hiding from the Jewish authorities. We too have allowed our present authorities to have control over our lives, here we need to pay our bills, take care of the children, and we neglect God, by not paying our tithes. The church does not operate on dues, but on tithes and offerings. When you do not pay your tithes after you have been warned of it, then it is on your soul when you face God. Stop worrying about what you can’t control and worry about the things that you can control. God’s peace can replace worry. God’s peace is different from the world’s peace. True peace is not found in positive thinking, in absence of conflict, or in good feelings. It comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. Let God’s peace guard your heart against anxiety.

2. Waiting on the Lord will restore you unto Him. Until you have been born again, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Did not the Lord say except a man be born of the spirit and of the water, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. You are never too old to be saved. I remember the thief on the cross, I can see him hanging on the cross, thinking back on all his wrongness he had caused, all his wickedness he had caused, all his worries he had caused, and he looked down Calvary Hill, and he sees this crowd, and he sees somebody carrying a cross an unusual cross, different from the cross that the carried. He looked and seen this man carrying the cross and falling, getting beat as he laid on the ground, he could see this man being helped by another man and they falling down, he could see it was an unusual large crowd of people unusual crazy, and I could see this thief asking the other thief, is that Barnabas, and the other thief saying no, no, that is that crazy young man, calling himself the son of God, caused he was healing and feeding and doing other types of miracles, I can’t wait until he get up here with us, I want to mess with him too. And can you see the thief looking at Jesus looking down at Jesus for he had heard of all of his good works and he knew that Jesus did not belong up there with them. I can see the thief looking with tears in his eyes as they had this crown stuck into his scalp, and blood running down. I can see him looking down on Jesus as they nailed Him in His hands, and looking over at his hands and they were tied up, I can see him looking as they riveted his feet to the cross, and looking down at his own feet and they were tied up. I can see this thief looking at Jesus as they put him in front of them just a little, so they could see Him. While one was having pity and shame the other thief was jeering Our Lord and Savior on the cross. I can see that on the cross there on one side of the church was a fool, and on the other side there was someone who was wise. The fool was the one who was drawing attention to himself, while he was missing out on his salvation, and the wise one sit back and thought back, and realized that he had been wrong, and can you not see this man saying Lord, Lord, Lord, oh Lord when you get to your kingdom, remember me. And I heard, I said I heard the voice of Jesus saying Verily as in surely, surely, this day you shall be with me in paradise. I tell you when you wait on the Lord, He will I know he will, release you from your worries.