05/11/2018
Do you stand at the ready, listening for God’s voice? Do you wait upon the Lord in this manner? We know instinctively that God is with us always, but sometimes we forget that He isn’t just there... He is also waiting to hear our voice. When we cry out to Him, when we joyfully sing to Him, when our pain and suffering leaves our throat in sorrowful moans... He waits on us. As we speak to Him in prayer He responds in Mercy, and yes, in judgement.
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”
Isaiah 30:18 ESV
I remember the nights Ann and I spent when our kids were babies. I must admit that Ann’s ear was keener than mine, and quite often she would nudge me and say “go get the baby”, but we would listen for the slightest sound from their crib. If they stirred we might awaken, but if they made a cry we went to them, and would stand by them until they called out again. We were waiting on them day and night. God’s ear is a tuned to our sounds and movements in the same way.
“O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?”
Psalms 139:1-7 ESV
So it is that God waits on us, and He hears our every cry, but He is patient and awaits our prayers... He stands by us and listens for that second cry which is to Him the call to action. Then His wisdom, mercy, and judgement come into play as we wait on Him to lift us up.
You might be put off by the word judgement, but our God is just, and often in the midst of suffering and crying out to Him I have heard Him say such things as “go ask forgiveness of them”, or “cast that desire off from you.” Sure we would like to receive instant relief, but our Father teaches us in the midst of our suffering. Our eyes are opened to sin we hadn’t seen in ourselves.
“No one who seeks to learn the blessed art of waiting on God should be surprised if at first the attempt to wait on Him only reveals more sin and darkness.” - Andrew Murray
Only when we have heard His voice and done as He has asked can we wait in obedience for Him to lift us into His arms and give us comfort. We must reconcile ourselves before God... purge the sin, and seek His grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Then, although He heard the very first sound of our voice in the night... His answer will come to us in the light of righteousness.
“Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.”
Isaiah 59:9 ESV
Today you might be in turmoil, or suffering in some way and have called out to God in prayer, but perhaps you are waiting on His provision when you should be listening and waiting on something else... His voice. Just maybe He is asking you to make a correction, and you are deafened to that in the midst of your troubles. Is the Holy Father asking something of you? Is there something you need to confess and make right?
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
James 5:16 ESV
So as we wait upon the Lord, He also waits upon us. He waits on our voice calling to him in prayer, and then He waits on our obedience to Those things He brings to our attention. If you are waiting, and you have been waiting for quite some time, open your mouth in prayer and say “here I am Father, what would you have me do”, then listen, and be obedient. There just may be a lesson that is standing between you and the answer you do desire.
“Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.”
1 John 3:21-22 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for waiting upon me, and hearing my prayers in times of strife. I thank you Lord for the corrections that come in my struggles with life, and in my quest for righteousness. I know Holy Father that your mercy abounds and that your grace, as revealed through Jesus Christ, knows no limit. Help me as I cry out and wait upon you for relief; show me my iniquities, and teach me to overcome them... that my wait for your mercy might come to an end, and that I might bask in your grace and forgiveness made possible by your Son. You are good, and your Word is true. Praised be your name my God, for Holy, Holy, Holy, are you, and sure is your provision for me in this life and beyond.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16 ESV
Rich Forbes