Why Wait?
Most of you probably don’t struggle with impatience. Waiting is just another part of life that comes easily to you. I, on the other hand, struggle to be patient. Waiting seems to go against my very nature, the nature of my flesh, that is.
Through the years, God has taught me, through some very real struggles, to wait upon Him. Looking back, even though the times of waiting were very difficult, I see them as times of spiritual growth and maturing.
So why should we wait? Who says so, and what’s in it for me? Well, let’s take a look at what God has to say about it.
First of all, as a man or woman of God, we are instructed to wait.
Man of God…instructed to be patient.
1 Timothy 6:11
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Notice that the man of God is instructed to “follow after” patience.
2 Timothy 2:24
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient. In this verse, we see the servant of the Lord is to be patient.
2 Corinthians 6:4
4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
Here again, we find ministers of God “approving” themselves in patience. If I am to consider myself a servant or minister, I am instructed to wait, I am instructed to be patient. So we see that waiting is a command from our Lord. But, is that all there is to it. Am I to wait just because He “said so”? That would be enough, but there is more.
Promises
The Word of God lists many promises that are linked to waiting upon the Lord.
Psalm 27:14
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. As we wait on the LORD, He promises to strengthen our hearts.
Isaiah 40:29-31
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.
As we wait on the LORD, He promises to renew our strength.
Hebrews 6:12-15
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing will I bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
After Abraham patiently endured, he obtained the promise of God. Don’t forget that his impatience, is still affecting the world we live in today. Ishmael was the result of the impatience of Abraham and Sarah. The descendants of Ishmael and Isaac war even unto this day in the Middle East.
Hebrews 10:36
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
We truly do need patience. We truly do need to wait upon the Lord.
To do the will of God, we MUST wait. For us to receive the promise, we MUST wait.
Our Salvation
Another of the promises of the Lord is our deliverance and salvation.
These great promises require us to wait upon the Lord.
Isaiah 25:9
9 And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Psalm 62
1 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.
Psalm 62:5-8
5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.
7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him:
God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psalm 25:5
5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Oh, the wonderful promises we have from the Lord if we wait upon Him.
Vengeance
There are many times in this life when we are wronged. It is all too easy for us to seek to avenge ourselves of the wrongdoings of others. Of course, this is never God’s will. He is the Avenger of His children. Once again, we are called on to wait, for God to avenge the wrong in His timing.
Psalm 37:34-36
34 Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree.
36 Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Proverbs 20:22
22 Say not thou, I will recompense evil, but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee.
Hope
Are we trusting the Lord? Do we really have faith, even the faith of a mustard seed?
Where is our hope? Is it not in the Lord? If our hope is in the Lord, then surely we can and must wait for Him.
Lamentations 3:22-26
22 It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
24 The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
25 The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.
Psalm 130:5-6
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning:
I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Romans 8:24-25
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Galatians 5:5
5 For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
Psalm 33:20-22
20 Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Romans 15
4 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
As God tells us in Romans 8: 24, “hope that is seen is not hope”.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
If we are not waiting on the Lord, we are not living a servant’s life before men, we are not obeying Him, we are not trusting Him. And we will miss out on many of the promises that He has for us.
When we refuse to wait on the Lord, we are placing Self ahead of Savior.
When we refuse to wait on the Lord, when we refuse to believe and trust Him, we are of all men most miserable.
1 Corinthians 15:16-20
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Benefits
Oh, dear brothers and sisters, there are so many more benefits that we can receive as we learn to wait upon the Lord.
James tells us that we can be spiritually mature and complete, if we wait, even during the most severe of trials.
James 1:2-4
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
In the book of Romans, Paul tells us to “glory” in our tribulations BECAUSE they teach us to wait patiently for the Lord. Our faith brings the peace that allows us to wait, and the waiting experience that leads to our hope. Paul goes on to say that this hope will not make us ashamed BECAUSE we are given the Holy Ghost which sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts.
Romans 5
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
James 5:10-12
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy.
Here, James reminds us of the patience of Job, even as he suffered great affliction. Don’t forget, that as a result of the patience of Job, that he ended up with twice as much as he started with. The Lord is not only pitiful and of tender mercy, but also very generous.
Take note of the instruction given us in 2 Peter. We are told how to grow in our faith.
Here again, waiting is a part of the growing process.
2 Peter 1:5-9
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
As we add the elements of this list to our faith life, notice the promise in verse 8: that we shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But, as we look at verse 9, we see that those that lack these are blind and short-sighted, and even forget that their sins were forgiven.
Patience of God
Let’s not forget about the patience of God.
Remember the patience of God as He waiting in the days of Noah.
God waited for Noah to complete the task He had given him before bringing judgment on the world.
1 Peter 3:20-21
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us
(not the putting away of the filth of the flesh,
but the answer of a good conscience toward God,)
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
Oh, the patience that He shows us today. God would be totally justified in bringing an end to this sin-wrecked world today. But He is patient and longsuffering. He sets the example for us. He shows us the way. After all, Jesus IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Waiting For The Holy Ghost
The disciples were given instruction to wait. Jesus commanded them to wait for the promise. He promised them that they would be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 1:4-5
4 And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
5 For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
What was the result of their waiting?
The disciples received the promise.
Acts 2
1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Then, they were able to share the gift of the Holy Ghost with the multitudes of those who believed.
Acts 2:38
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We can go back even farther and see that this was a fulfillment of something else that God had been waiting for centuries to bring about.
Acts 2
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Oh, how very important, NO, how urgent that we wait upon the Lord.
We are commanded to wait upon the Lord. Obedience to that command is filled with wonderful promises. As we wait, we follow the example set by our God and King.
As we obey Him, we demonstrate our love for Him.
How about it? Do you love Him? Are you demonstrating that love by obediently waiting for Him?
Heard nor Seen
The rewards of waiting are beyond our greatest expectations or imaginations. He is faithful, He is just, He is love, He is a rewarder of those that wait upon Him. He cannot lie; it is impossible for God to lie.
