All tagged Waiting

Impatience, it is one of the greatest challenges to our faith, and brings many a righteous soul to that place where they begin to question God, or say to themselves on the third day that Jesus will not rise... He is dead. Are we in need of something from God right now that we have been praying for night and day, yet haven’t received so much as a hint of deliverance regarding? Well, waiting is not easy, and bearing pain and suffering while we do might feel cruel, but God’s ways are perfect, and by them He is perfecting us... have faith in your waiting.

Is God active in your life right now, or are you waiting on Him? There are times in our relationship with God when our faith feels like it is adrift on a calm sea without the slightest hint of a breeze in our sails, but at other times the wind is brisk and our sails are full and tight as we speed forward; cutting through the waves with the spray in our face. What are you experiencing right now, the calm sea, the exhilaration of the wind, or the fear of a storm?

Can we pray like Elijah? Do our prayers have the ability to reach up to the heavens and let not just drought come and go, but answered prayer rain down? Well, scripture tells us that Elijah’s nature is the same as ours... so how is it that his prayers are so powerful? Elijah had one more characteristic... righteousness. When we pray, do we possess that fullness of faith? How is our righteousness? How is our prayer life?

It is expected that we will wait upon the Lord, and we know that during our waiting there will be those who will ask us “Where is your Lord?”, but we should never lose faith, and never ask this question of ourselves. In those times when we pray for something and God provides it right away, it is easy for us to be a saint, but when we must wait, it is then that we find the true state of our faith.

Have you entered a doldrum in regards to your faith and prayer life? Perhaps you are new to prayer and are seeking that first gust of wind in your sails; the one that you know should be there. Or perhaps you are a salty Christian that has somehow become becalmed. Times such as this require that we lean on our faith all the more, and continue to pray. Believing should become the hope that carries us through those times when we seem to be going through the motions of our religion without any forward progress. We must believe, hope, trust, and continue to lift up our prayers.

Even before you waited on the LORD He was waiting on you. I know a man who would like to think that God’s mercy and grace is bestowed cart blanch to even those who do not believe in Him... the one true God of Abraham, Moses, and Isaac. This man would like to think that he can obtain the grace and forgiveness associated with Jesus without believing in Him as the Son of God, or obeying His commandments and teaching. This is not so, and yet God waits on this man with open arms.

God is our creator, and has worked out the means of our redemption, our salvation; Jesus was nailed to the cross, but it was God’s will that placed Him there. Have you picked up your cross to follow Jesus, or are you still waiting on God to say come? Waiting on our Father becomes much easier once we realize that He formed us, saved us, and it will be in His house that we will live forever. But do we know who He is, or do we believe in a mystery?

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.

The most uncertain of victories will be won by the Lord because He is great beyond measure. How patient is our faith in this; His victory? Are we waiting in total confidence for Him to act? When those around us challenge our patience in God we can be moved to take matters into our own hands, and to abandon our assurance in His promise. In such times I look to scripture and hold tight to it.

It is Holy Saturday, and on this day Jesus lay in His tomb, but for us it is a time of waiting, of anticipation. Are you one who is comfortable in waiting, or does it cause you to toss and turn in the night? In our relationship with God we often find ourselves waiting for Him... do you settle in, or pace the floor? Let the Lord give you peace as you wait, because there is untold blessing in the waiting.

What are you doing as you wait on God? Do you even know what you are waiting on? We have all been through times when we aren’t really certain what we would like the Lord to do for us, or what we would have Him do in our lives and faith, but being adrift on a sea of uncertainty is not good. So when you find yourself becalmed on a motionless ocean, then pray for a breeze, a direction, and wait on Him. Then as you wait go about the tasks of living in the faith that Jesus. And God’s Word have taught.

Do you wait patiently for God’s provision and direction? Have you become practiced in allowing Him to do all things in your life, or does He teach you over and over again how to wait? Have you set your spiritual clock, and your expectations to divine time, the time of heaven? As the length of an earthly day is constantly changing, and our bodies acclimate to that change, we must also acclimate spiritually to the natural variation in the will of God... the day of heaven.