Winter is not my favorite season. But I’ve learned to appreciate it and to see it as a necessary part of life. Waiting is not my favorite thing, either. But I’ve learned to appreciate it and to see it as a necessary part of the renewal process.

Nonetheless, the LORD is waiting
to be merciful to you,
   and will rise up to show you compassion.
The LORD is a God of justice;
   happy are all who wait for him.
(Isaiah 30:18, CEB)Waiting is indeed hard. It’d be so much easier to do something. But busywork is not the answer for waiting. Something does not substitute for the right thing. Waiting might get a bit easier when we figure out that waiting does not mean laziness. Actually, waiting is hard work. It takes strength to hold strength back until it is God’s time to for us to start blooming.

G. Campbell Morgan has said “waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.”

It is also helpful to understand that God’s delays are not God’s denials. Actually, God’s delays mean he has something better in store for us. But, yes, God’s timing is very often different than ours. The winter might seem to last too long. If you are not certain whether it is the right time to take action, wait. If you hesitate or have any doubts, wait. Don’t go against restraint in your spirit, God is telling you to wait. Wait until the Spirit urges you to move on.

Timing is so important. T.D. Jakes underlines the necessity of waiting on God’s timing this way: “If you are going to be successful in dance, you must be able to respond to rhythm and timing. It’s the same in the Spirit. People who don’t understand God’s timing can become spiritually spastic, trying to make the right things happen at the wrong time. They don’t get His rhythm – and everyone can tell they are out of step. They birth things prematurely, threatening the very lives of their God-given dreams.” That’s why I wholeheartedly agree with Samuel Rutherford: “I will charge my soul to believe and wait for Him, and will follow His providence, and not go before it, nor stay behind it.”

But me! I will keep watch
for the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.
(Micah 7:7, CEB)

Do you want to be a pilgrim soul, like G. Campbell Morgan call those who wait for God and who have no tie that will hold him/her when the definite command of God is issued? Who has no prejudices that will paralyze his/her effort when s/he is commanded to take a pathway entirely different to that which was his/her before? Who has no interests either temporal or eternal, either material or mental or spiritual, that will conflict with the will of God when that will is made known? Very high goals! Worth of pursuing! Worth of waiting!

Gracious God,
You are an amazing God.
You continue to awe us.
We want to serve you.
We want to wait for you.
Give us patience to do nothing
when it’s time to do nothing.
Give us strength to act
when it’s time to act.
May your will happen in our lives.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save