They That Wait Upon The Lord: The Rewards For Waiting

THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD: THE REWARDS FOR WAITING

Isaiah 40:25-31: 25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths shall grow tired and weary, and young men shall stumble and fall; 31 but they that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

INTRODUCTION: THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD

Waiting Is A Problem For Most Of Us. No one likes to wait. The world has a problem with waiting but as for the Christians, that is a different thing altogether. In the very fast-paced world, things are set up for maximum speed and efficiency. Fast food restaurants, online purchases, news flashes as it happens, computers now making communication faster and direct more than ever. We can now get much more done in a day’s time than we ever could in the past due to all of the new technological gadgets and devices we now have at our disposal. And we are so used to everything moving at break-neck speed that we have a hard time adjusting to the “slower ways” that God works. I have come to find out that God never seems to be in a hurry. He has a much slower way of working things than we think He should. Where we can get into major trouble with the Lord in our personal walk is to take all of that break-neck speed in being able to get things done and accomplished, and then try to throw that in the middle of our walk with the Lord with how He will want to work things out in our lives. Again, God usually has a much slower time frame and a much slower way of working things out in our life than we do. And if we do not learn how to adjust to His slower time frame and the slower way He likes to work things out in our life, we could easily get ourselves knocked right out of our calls and our divine destinies that He has set us. Timing is an absolute crucial factor with the Lord. Try to move ahead of God’s timing with what He wants to do in a particular area of your life, and you will find very quickly that everything will fall apart and completely unravel.

WHAT WAITING OR PATIENCE IS:

Wait Means “To Stay Where One Is Or Delay Action Until A Particular Time Or Until Something Else Happens.” In the case of God, it means to stay where one is or delay action until God arrives or is ready. It means stand back, hold back, cease, discontinue, pause until God is ready. We can call it patience, perseverance, self-control, etc. But it indicates that we must be calm, persevering, tolerant, understanding, compassionate, mindful, hopeful until God says move. The opposite which can be impatience implies that we are being impulsive, complaining, judgmental, pessimistic, hasty, frantic, anxious because God is taking too long. We want it now.

EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE WAITING FOR GOD

1. Noah: Took instruction from God and built an ark and waited for the flood.

2. Joseph: Waited in Potiphar’s house and in prison.

3. Jesus: Waited for his season to be fulfilled. Hebrews 12 says he endured for us…

4. Job: He loses everything and friends accuse him of wrongdoing. He awaits God.

5. Simeon (Luke 2): Eagerly Awaited the Messiah

6. Moses: In leading Israel out of Egypt, he endured much from enemies and Jews.

7. David: His rise from zero to hero is a story of patience.

8. Mary: She is chosen for a task she did not choose but endured with patience.

9. Ruth: After death upon death in her family, she risks through patience a choice with Naomi.

10. Hannah: She cried and prayed.

EXAMPLES OF IMPATIENCE IN THE BIBLE

1. Abraham & Sarah: Should Have Waited For The Isaac And Not The Ishmael. 75 – 95 Years.