Waiting on the Lord is HARD! His timetable is often contrary to our “hurry-up-I-need-it-now” timetable. We’re looking for immediate answers from Him when He is working toward lasting character growth in us. Our personal agenda is top priority yet God is weaving His agenda in and through the 7 billion people living on earth at the same time. When we call Him up in prayer we don’t get a busy signal (think about that), however we may get a “Please stay on the line (WAIT) while the Father is working out the details of your request for His glory and your ultimate good”. And that takes more time than we normally care to give.
Though I know all that, I still dislike (with a passion I might add) the wait. Though I know from experience that is it so much better to wait on the Lord than to charge ahead with my own itinerary, I still dislike waiting. And I’m sure you too find it hard to wait on the Holy Spirit to speak to you, to lead you, or to take action in the way you desire. So, this is probably something we all need to work on. But, I want to turn this thing of waiting completely upside down. Instead of concentrating on how God puts us on hold, let’s concentrate on how often we put God on hold. How often does the Lord have to wait on you?
Just maybe God has been speaking to you and speaking to you and speaking to you and you have been giving him a deaf ear. Maybe He is calling you to receive His eternal life – calling you into a deeper walk with Him – calling you to follow Him into specific ministry – calling you to take that next step of faith – and well, He’s not finding you too cooperative. Think about that: The God who loves you enough to have His Son die an excruciating death on the cross to provide forgiveness of your sins, is not going to lead you wrong, and is not going to call you to do that which would hurt or be ultimately bad for you. And like me at times, you tell God “No” or “Wait (not now)”. Now tell me that is a smart move???
There have been times that I’ve been waiting on the Lord to show me the next step to take…and after a long wait…He tells me He won’t be doing that until I take the last three steps He has told me to take and I have either refused or have gotten so busy with other things that I have forgotten to do them. So, He waits and waits and waits. If your favorite President of the USA called your home to ask you to do something would you put him on hold or refuse to even consider his request. Yet we do it too often to the King of kings.
Is God waiting for you to give priority to dealing with certain sins in your life? Is He waiting for you to meet with Him each day in sweet communion? Is He waiting to save your friend or neighbor because He hasn’t been able to convince you to be His instrument in their life? Is God ready to bring reconciliation between you and someone else but He has been put on hold because of your refusal to seek that mending of the relationship in the power of the Spirit?
Friend, I’m not trying to make you feel guilty about this as much as I’m trying to encourage you to do what I need to do. For instance: (I share this with a great deal of wanting to keep this private, but because this has gone on for decades I need your prayers since I’ve been telling God “No” too long) – Prior to marrying Lucy, in our few times together, we would always pray together. That was one of our most treasured things to do together. And that was something I had intended to continue in our marriage. But it hasn’t happened. God will convict me of not praying with my wife and I will try to do it for a week and then quit. Think about this, God and Lucy have been waiting for 45 years for me to do what I should have been doing all along. Lucy and I both pause and pray all the time – privately – but rarely do I take the lead and pray with her. This whole thing is stupid on my part, but I continue to live in disobedience – and God and Lucy are still waiting. Please pray for me and I will pray for you as we seek to discover those areas in our lives where we are asking God to wait and where we need to step up and do what He wants us to do.