Practical Wisdom from the Word of God

Isaiah 46:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’

Who likes to wait? I know I do not like it at all. I am just like most of us in modern western society. I want things “right now.” Almost all of us own a microwave oven because waiting for a regular oven takes too long. We progressed from sit down diners with home cooked food to fast food restaurants serving processed burgers and greasy fries so we could get the food and get out quickly. That was not fast enough so the drive through was invented to keep us from even getting out of our cars. I wonder how much money insurance companies have made off that idea.

Today it is only getting worse. I have my smart phone with me at all times. If I need to communicate, I do not want to wait until I get home. I want my weather information and baseball scores immediately. I have news when it happens and I know when my wife is on the way home. I might just check on her progress if the weather is bad. Everything in my life has to happen now. Waiting has become an archaic idea in our culture.

Debt is a huge problem in America both publicly and privately. A large part of the problem is our inability to wait for anything. We are enticed by the media into believing that we need the latest and greatest thing. Why wait for it when you can have it today? Just charge it with these easy terms. This thinking seems to have invaded our government as well. We are 16 trillion dollars in debt as a nation. Trillion was not even a term that was used when I was younger. Billion was an unheard of amount a generation ago. Now a billion dollars seems like a small amount. Many of these problems along with increased stress and anxiety arise because we have forgotten how to wait.

The problem is that faith and Godly favor require that we wait. There is no way around it. In this space, we have been looking at the idea of waiting on the Lord. If we want to experience the favor of God through people and circumstances, we must wait. Favor comes at the discretion of others. If you ask someone to do you a favor, you are obliged to wait for their timing and convenience. If you are paying that person to do work for you, it is your right to dictate when and how the thing is done. If you are asking for a favor, you must “wait on” the one doing the favor.

We could never pay for the things God wants to do for us. We could not earn salvation. Salvation came to us by grace, unmerited favor, through faith or simply believing that God would do what he said he would do. If we are going to walk in God’s favor, we must be willing to wait on God’s time and God’s way.

You might say, “God is almighty. He can do anything. Why can’t he make what I need happen when I need it? Why do I have to wait at all?” First, he always makes things happen when we need them to happen. He just does not always agree with you on when they need to happen. He also does not always agree with you concerning exactly what it is that needs to happen. Even if he agrees about what needs to happen, he usually brings it about in a way you could not possibly foresee.

Last week we looked at how to wait successfully. Here is another key to successful waiting. We must be willing to understand that things are not always going to work out the way we planned. Most of the time, it will look like things are not working out at all. We must be willing to allow the Lord to be in control and believe that he will work everything out according to his purpose and our good. We must expect God to be God and not tell him how to do his Job. (Ps. 62:5)

I had a friend who believed that we should be specific in our prayer and accept nothing less than the specific answer. He did some traveling in ministry and he wanted a custom van. He made his list of what he wanted in the van. It had to be a certain make and it had to be blue. He said, “If someone offered me a red one I wouldn’t take it because God will answer specifically. I asked for blue and he won’t give me red!” I believe in praying specifically, but I think we need to be willing to leave the details to God. In his position, I would have taken hot pink if someone wanted to give it to me!

This is also true in the way life plays out for us. Very few people “live the dream.” Most of us find that life is not all what we thought it would be when we were growing up. That is just a fact. Few people ever become rich financially. Few have that dream job and few do or have all the things they want. When we are waiting on God and things do not happen the way we expect we stop waiting and try to help God. We may also give in to discouragement and give up. If we let God be God, we will win in the end. If we try to help God, we will give up and eventually lose.

Why must I wait? I want to submit something to you for your consideration. We live in the moment. We have memories of the past and we have hopes, dreams and fears for the future. However, it is the thing that most concerns us or has our attention today that we live for. We have a very difficult time with the “big picture.” God is just the opposite. He told Moses to tell Israel that his name was “I am that I am.” God sees all of history as right now. According to today’s scripture, he sees the end from the beginning.

To us yesterday is a faded memory. The future is uncertain. We know about right now. When we have a desire or a need, it is right now. We honestly believe that we need God to move immediately. However, God knows things that you do not. In Psalm 139 it says that God had all our days numbered while we were in our mother’s womb. Go does not just see you earthly beginning and physical end. God sees your whole existence. You had a beginning but you will have no end. You are a spirit and you will live forever. God knows every moment of your forever.

Have you ever looked back at something and said, “Now I see what God had in mind.” When I started the church I now pastor, I moved from a small city to a very small town. I went from 80 or so people to 11 people. That decision meant I was going to have to wait for the new church to grow. I had to wait for a building. I had to wait for resources. It is hard to support a family on the giving of 11 people, particularly when 3 of those people are your family. I had to wait on God and trust him for everything until the church began to grow.

Why would God make me do that? Why not just stay where I was? I had a house, people to help me in the work and a church building. I had musicians and people to give. Why would God lead me into something that would involve so much waiting?

I knew that God had called me to travel to other parts of the world. This move did not seem to have anything to do with that vision. However, a man from Africa came to our church when it was very small. I would never have met him if I stayed where I was. That act of obedience opened doors to Africa that I am still walking through today.

God sees all the twists and turns that life is going to take. He knows exactly when to bring things to you. He knows when to cause you to intersect with important people or things. We must wait on him because his timing is perfect and his vision is unhindered by the limitations of time. I do not understand that. I do not have to. I just have to wait when he says wait. I just have to accept that God is in control and if he says wait it is for a reason. I simply have to wait in faith praising and thanking him for his goodness and the victory he will bring to me. I just have to bring my flesh under the control of my spirit and tell it, “You will wait on the Lord!”

If we learn to do that, we will experience great victory in life and a kind of success that nothing else will bring.