Today’s quiet time study was inspired by a message of the same title by Pastor Charles Stanley.
The text I studied is from Isaiah 49. Waiting on God is not just about a fulfillment of a promise on something we want desperately but it also involves God working out our character, conversation and conduct to be like Christ so that he can use us for himself too. To be used of God, He helps us to recognize attributes of the flesh such as ego, wickedness, impatience, anger, pride, and feelings that we are better or know better than others that can keep us focused on us and not on how God can use us. Having a self focused mind does not encourage obedience to God nor is it set on waiting on God which can delay our blessings and cause us to seek justification and validation outside of God.
So waiting on God entails that I am submissive and obedient to him as obedience allows God to use me/us for his work. But how can I obey God? By doing what he wants me to do when he tells me to do it. Why? Because disobedience delays God’s blessings and brings pain and suffering. Psalm 119:1-8 details how immediate obedience to God keeps us away from shame (blessings), allows us not to feel abandoned by God and increases our confidence in Him. Disobedience on the other hand leads to delay and causes us to, walk in the flesh or an uncircumcised mindset that exhibits the fruits of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) that is focused on self and how to gratify the flesh.
Sometimes what we are waiting on God for can seem like it will never come to pass and cause us to start to waiver on God’s promises. This can cause our feelings to overwhelm our faith. What do we do when this happens? We need to trust God because even if the things we ask God for does not happen immediately, God answers in his time and he is always on time. We need to know that:
God wants us to trust him
God does not want us to focus on our circumstances but on him because focusing on our circumstance can magnify them and cause us to waiver.
God works by principles in his word and we need to make sure we are in alignment with corresponding principles according to how they pertain to our situation.
We are not believing the lies of the devil by succumbing to the guilt he brings to our minds that our sins are keeping God from manifesting his promises. As long as we have repented from any known sin and following the leading of the Holy Spirit, God does not keep a record of our sins 1 John 1:7 and 1 John 1:9 nor does he use our sins against us. But Satan would have us believe that condemnation and guilt are the reasons for the wait in our lives when the bible clearly says we are no longer condemned Romans 8: 1-2.
When we begin to waiver, we can ask ourselves the following questions
Where are these doubts and questions coming from?
Is this how God operates?
Has God ever failed me in the past?
Has God not promised to meet all my needs?
Has he not given me the Holy Spirit? if so why am I struggling and worrying?
Has he not promised to be with me all the time?
Is there anything too hard for God?
Is this one of those forks in the road that the wrong decision could cost me?
So what to do? Meditate on the word of God as much as I can (daily and unhurriedly) and then apply it by asking him to show me the right way Isaiah 30:21-23 so that I can experience the peace of God while I wait on him.
God bless.