The Secret of Waiting on God

"But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint" (Isaiah 40:31). God is able to deliver, restore and strengthen his people if they will wait on Him in faith. To wait on God is to patiently stay in place and hold back from a course of action until God gives you the green light. If while driving you come to a red light, failure to wait for the green could result in damages to automobiles and to lives. Failure to wait on God can also have devastating results. Given this fact, why do people still fail to wait on God?

1.     Time Pressures

People make wrong assumptions about God's plans due to what they consider to be extensive delays in the fulfillment of God's promises. Wrong assumptions will lead to a wrong course of action. Because Sarai felt time was running out for her to have a child, she gave her servant to Abram to have a child for her. This arrangement, produced by time pressures, was not the will of God for Sarai. It produced the Arabs which to this day are bitter enemies of the descendants of Abraham and Sarah. You can read the account of this in Genesis 16:1-6, Genesis 16:1-2 and Genesis 17:1-21.

2.     Situational Pressures

King Saul allowed the pressures of war to make him stop waiting on God and rashly take a course of action that was not approved by God. When Samuel saw what Saul had done, he said, "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command" (1 Samuel 13:13-14).

3.     Emotional Pressure

"This disaster is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?" (2 Kings 6:33). King Joram felt himself deceived by Elisha and abandoned by the Lord, whom he blamed for the disastrous famine conditions that had come on his city.

These three pressures: time, situational and emotional cause many people to grow weary while waiting on God. What is the secret of overcoming these pressures? What is the secret of waiting on God? The secret of waiting on God is to make up your mind that regardless of time delays or situational pressures, you will maintain faith and confidence that God has heard your cause and will answer you at the appointed time.

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior (Habakkuk 2:17-18).

Pastor Earl