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Waiting on the Lord

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Waiting on the Lord

Isa. 40:28-31
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

The Scripture has much to say about waiting on the Lord. The secret of walking with God is waiting on Him; without waiting on Him there is no walking with Him. Waiting on Him demands:

  • we trust God for His ultimate purposes in our life.
  • we let God choose the way He is going to lead us.
  • we let God choose the means to His ends.
  • we follow in thankfulness.
  • we let Him set the times and seasons of our life.
  • we go at His speed.
  • we stop when He stops.
  • we run when He runs.
  • we rest when He rests.

Waiting is an interesting word.
It means to bind together. Like two pieces of wire that are twisted together, waiting on God binds us, not only to the way He is leading us, but to the reasons He has chosen to lead us in this way. When we wait, we join ourselves to the perfections of His wisdom and His will. Waiting on the Lord means to possess an attitude that allows us to be emotionally joined to the person of Jesus Christ and to His redemptive work of Salvation. If we are bound together with the Lord, then we know He is leading us and we are enabled to look at life with a new enthusiasm. His promise is that if we wait on Him then He will strengthen us - "we will run and not be weary, we will walk and not faint."  Waiting on the Lord is an optimistic relationship with the Lord. We are trusting Him, walking with Him, listening to Him, and bringing ourselves into agreement with how He is leading us.

We can be bound to other things.
The attitude in which we wait reflects what we have bound ourselves to. For example, we can wait in fear, turmoil, frustration, anger, apathy, hopelessness, bitterness, discouragement, etc.. If these reflect the attitude of our life it is because we have bound ourselves, not to the truth of God's Word, but to our own thinking. These attitudes are the product of a life centered in self rather than the Word of God. When we are centered in the Word of God then the fruit of our life is love, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.

Worry is a thief.
Worry steals our faith by replacing it with lies. We can be so worried about our present circumstances that we can no longer relate to what God says. Worry chokes, it strangles, and absolutely destroys joy and hope. If we bind ourselves to fear, worry, and turmoil, then we will be rehearsing and expecting the worst rather than trusting God’ for His provision. Worry accuses God and looks away from Him. Worry listens to the voice of a lie. God says "do not fear, I will help you." The lie says, "God cannot help you; your circumstances are hopeless." But those who wait on God take the Word of God and demolish every lie.

We can wait in anger.
We can be so angry and so frustrated with our life that we absolutely no longer care. Anger transforms a humble believer into a proud victim. Angry people no longer hope in God, for their anger turns their heart from God's purposes to the unfairness and pain of their own life. Anger will leave one so cold in their soul that they completely give up even thinking about God's purposes and plans for their life.

We can bind ourselves to a fatalistic outlook.
This means that we believe whatever happens is inevitable. Of course, if we expect nothing but the inevitable, then we will receive nothing. If we have resigned ourself to whatever happens, then we will receive the "whatever happens". But this is not waiting on the Lord, for He has a will and a purpose that is not governed by the inevitable, but governed by His eternal purposes in Christ Jesus. If we will believe Him, and wait on Him, then He will work His eternal purposes in us, and for us. The Lord's promises are to those who wait on Him.

We can bind ourselves to the mistakes of our past.
We can become so controlled by our past mistakes rather than the redemptive victories of Christ, that we find ourselves unable to put off the old and put on the new. To wait on God we have to overcome our own thinking, our own emotions, yes, even our own personality. We have to put off the old person with his old habits, his old thinking patterns, his old - and broken - ways of responding to God and to life, and put on the new person who is created, after God, in righteousness and true holiness. Eph. 4:22-24

Bad Attitudes
Waiting with a bad attitude is not the kind of waiting that God will bless. In fact, it is not waiting at all. Waiting with a bad attitude means we are still living, and bound to, our old fleshly life and still unhappy with the way God is taking us. Bad attitudes lead only to more bad attitudes; we sink even further into hopelessness and despair. But waiting on the Lord is a good thing for it brings the power and provision of God into our life. Isaiah 40:31 states that those who wait on the Lord will mount up with wings as eagles. This means the Lord will strengthen those who wait on Him by giving them the ability to rise above their storm clouds and soar in the light of His provision.

All of us have watched children who, while holding the hand of their parents, run, scream, and kick because they are unhappy with the leadership of their parents. Figuratively speaking, if we allow ourselves to be bound to bad attitudes, we can act like these children. These children are bound to their parents physically but not spiritually. Waiting on the Lord is being one in Spirit with Him and waiting with a good attitude is being happy with Him even if our circumstances are difficult. We do not have to enjoy difficult circumstances but we do have to enjoy the Lord - who is ruling over, and ruling within - our present circumstances. To wait on the Lord means we love and trust Him more than we hate our present difficulties; if we are waiting on Him then we will be able to rejoice in Him, even in difficult times.

The Scripture says we have need of patience.

Heb 10:35-36
(35) Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
(36) For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Verse 36 says that patience is not optional but is a demand or requirement of receiving the promises. We live in a world of promises and we walk by faith. There is a period of time between doing the will of God and receiving the promised blessing. There is a period of time between praying and then receiving; we pray then we wait. It is during the waiting times that the right attitude is so important. Bad attitudes destroy faith while good attitudes (patience, thankfulness, etc..) enable faith. Notice the ingredients of receiving the promises:
  1. confidence
  2. patience
  3. doing the will of God
After these are in place then we receive the promises.

Waiting on the Lord is like growing a garden.
When growing a garden we pick out the garden spot, we till the soil, we plant the seed, we fertilize the ground, we weed the ground, we water the soil,  and after we have fully cared for the ground then we can wait patiently for the fruit of the garden.

Imagine trying to grow a garden without ever soaking the ground with water. Imaging if I said, " I know about water, I know how it works, and I understand the importance of water." Or, if I said, "“I believe in water and I believe in the power of water to grow a tremendous garden." You would then tell me, what you said is true but to grow a garden you must put water on the garden, you must actually apply water to the soil.

Waiting on God is not doing "nothing", it is active. It is putting the Water of His Word on our garden. No one physically walks with God, we have not seen Him with our physical eyes or touched His physical hand. We walk with Him by walking in His Word; we walk by believing - and then acting - on  what He says.  God has given His Word as the context and foundation of our faith; His Word is the environment in which we live. We believe, and apply, His Word to our mind, our heart, our attitudes, our thoughts, our dreams, our priorities, our values, and to our behavior; we apply His Word to our practical, everyday lives.

In order to produce good fruit we must put the water of the Word on the soil of our heart.
More than knowing, and more than believing, we must possess the Word of God, we have to own it, or better, it has to own us. If the Word owns our heart, then our heart will soak in the Spirit of God, which will then produce the life of God in us. If we never soak our heart in the Water of the Word, then we will never be able to effectively wait on the Lord. If we do not relate to the Word of God then we cannot relate to God Himself; where there is no communication there is no relationship. If our heart, mind, and life is not watered with the Word of God then we will be trying to grow good fruit in the soil of bad attitudes. It never works.

Zechariah 4:6 says it is not by might, not by strength, but by my Spirit saith the Lord.
This is true. We cannot live successfully apart from the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is resident within the Word of God and when we live by the Word of God we walk in the power of the Spirit. The Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit and overcomes all the power of our Enemy.

Healing is built into the Word of God.
As we bring the Word of God into our lives then its healing power is released within us. There is healing for our mind, our body, our emotions, our relationships, our marriages, our personality issues, our weaknesses, our failures, our habits, and every spiritual issue. He sent His Word and healed them, Psa. 107:20.

The Scripture is the sword of the Spirit.
Remember Jesus, when tempted of the Devil, He resisted him with scriptures alone. The devil had to leave Him and the same is true for us; when resisted by the Word of God, the Devil has to leave you. The power of God is in His Word, and when spoken by the mouth of His servants, is still the Word of God and is more powerful than all the power of every devil and every demon.

Where do we start.
Start with the enemy in front of you. That which causes you so much turmoil, so much fear, that which overwhelms you, that which daily wars against your faith, this is where you must win. Go to the Word of God and find promises that apply to your life. The promises are weapons that God gives to you personally that will empower you to walk out the victories of Jesus Christ; He is victorious over all the power of Darkness. He has defeated sin, death, hell, the world, the flesh, every demon, and every devil. As followers of Christ we are joined to Him, and to the victories He has won for us. So, there is more for you than against you, and if you are a born-again believer, then there is more right with you than wrong with you. Take up the Word of God and begin to walk out your New identity in Christ Jesus; possess your victories, over every enemy, that would destroy your faith.

We live out Christ's victory over Darkness. You must know this -we are not trying to win our battle with Darkness - Jesus has already won it. This is what Salvation is all about. Jesus by His death, burial, and resurrection defeated all the power of our spiritual enemies and we,  the redeemed of the Lord, reap the benefits of His victory. But here on Earth, we walk it out. We live by faith and faith defeats Darkness every time because it stands on the promises of God and is empowered by the Spirit of God.  We take the Word of God and defeat our enemies; we enforce the victories of Christ over sin,  the world, the flesh, and over the devil. We renew our minds, we bring every thought captive to Jesus Christ; we confront every ambition, every priority, every desire, every dream, every imagination with the Word of God. We reject those things which war against our faith and daily bring the rule of Jesus Christ into our hearts.

The end is better than the beginning.
Ecc 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Waiting on the Lord is about the end, the outcome, or the result hoped for. Christ has a purpose for each of us, and that purpose comes through patient waiting.

 -the end of your faith will be better than the beginning.
 -today your salvation may be difficult, tomorrow you will rejoice in the abundance of peace.
 -today you suffer, tomorrow you rejoice.
 -today you live in weakness, with bodies and minds that have to be managed, tomorrow in a glorified body with life eternal;
 -we wait because the promises of God are true and the end is better than the beginning.

Thank you Jesus,

 Jim

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Thank you,

Jim