Wait!

As a boy I remember I couldn’t wait to start shaving my face and grow hair on my legs.  After all, these were observable signs that I was becoming a man.  I had to hurry up and prove to those around me that I was a man.  Now I grow hair in all the places I don’t want hair and I despise having to shave. 

So often the world around us is moving at such a fast speed that all of us, at one time or another, get caught up in the hurried pace of things and we quickly lose sight of what is most important.  Are you like I am and find yourself wanting God to hurry up because you don’t think He is moving fast enough?  If so, you might be tempted to initiate the action you think should happen?  Throughout Scripture we see time and time again where a man got impatient and acted outside of the will of God and the end result was disastrous!  Whether we’re talking about Adam, Abraham, Moses, or David (and the list could go on and on) the act of growing impatient and taking matters into our own hands before God is ready always leads to results that God can neither condone or approve.

Dottie Peoples sings a wonderful Gospel song entitled “He’s An On-Time God” and the lyrics are as follows:

Chorus:
(He’s an on-time God, yes, He is).  Oh, on-time God, yes, He is.
(Job said), He may not come when you want Him,
(But He’ll) be there right on-time; (I tell ya’ He’s an) on-time God, yes, He is.
Verse 1:
You can ask the children of Israel, trapped at the Red Sea
By that mean old Pharaoh and his army.
They had water all around them, and Pharaoh on their track,
From out of nowhere, God stepped in and cut a highway just like that.
(Chorus)
Verse 2:
You can ask the five thousand hungry souls He fed,
On the banks of the river with two fish and five loaves of bread;
What a miracle, He performed for the multitude, oh,
What He did way back then, He’ll do today for me and you.
(Chorus)
Ending:
(He’s an on-time God, yes, He is).  Oh, on-time God, yes, He is.
(Job said), He may not come when you want Him,
(But He’ll) be there right on time; He’s an on-time God,
(repeat as desired) He’s an on-time God, (yes, He is).

One of the greatest gifts God’s man can pass on to his circle of influence is the importance of waiting on God.  Scripture tells us “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it testifies about the end and will not lie.  Though it delays, wait for it, since it will certainly come and not be late.” ⁽¹⁾   God has revealed some details of His vision for us in His Word and there are other details that He will reveal to us through the Holy Spirit as they are needed.  For many of us, if we got the whole thing at once it would be too overwhelming and we would give up before we ever got started. 

Paul tells us “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” ⁽²⁾   I find it interesting that Paul refers to the “eyes of your heart” when he prays for our understanding and knowledge of where true hope resides and the power that is behind that hope.  So often a man wants to see with his physical eyes in order to believe or trust in something. God calls us to use faith as our guide and through that faith God gives us “vision” of His plan and how we fit into that plan.  “We live by faith not by sight.” ⁽³⁾   When we accept by faith God’s plan for us and we allow His timing to guide our steps in carrying out His plan then we can be a powerful force for the Kingdom of God!

One of Satan’s favorite tactics is to plant seeds of doubt.  If we begin to question whether God is going to take action then it becomes relatively easy to justify taking matters into our own hands.  If we have Jesus in our heart but we do not allow our heart to direct our mind then we are still very vulnerable to the tricks and ploys of Satan.  That is why Paul told the Corinthians“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” ⁽⁴⁾   God’s men must take every thought captive in order for us to avoid creating our own timetable for things to happen rather than waiting on God’s appointed time.  So if we use the eyes of our heart it allows us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is not seen is eternal.” ⁽⁵⁾

So what about it … are you willing to “wait” on your Heavenly Father?  This is my prayer for you and I hope your prayer for me!

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(1)  Habakkuk 2:3 HCSV translation of the Holy Bible
(2)  Ephesians 1:18-19a.  All Scripture used in this article is taken from the NIV 1984 translation of the Holy Bible unless otherwise noted.
(3) 2 Corinthians 5:7
(4)  2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV 1984 translation of the Holy Bible
(5)  2 Corinthians 4:18