Church Matters
Part 4
“The Crucial Importance of Waiting on God”
Psalms 40:1-3 “I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. 2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. 3 He has put a new song in my mouth—praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”
Now, so far in our series on Living Under God’s Guidance, we’ve learned that we must 1.) Trust him with everything 2.) Acknowledge Him and His Lordship in all of our decisions 3.) What the signposts of His guidance are.
Now this time I want to talk about the absolute crucial importance of WAITING PATIENTLY on God’s direction.
Psalms 27:14 “Wait (in faith) on the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.”
The Bible is filled with stories of those that waited on God:
Noah waited for the flood to come
Moses waited to see the Promised Land
Jonah waited in the belly of the whale
Daniel waited in the Lion’s Den
Israel waited for the coming of the Messiah
The disciples waited on the Holy Spirit
Paul and Silas waited in the Philippian jail
And we ourselves have to wait all the time!
We wait in the doctor’s office
We wait in restaurants to be waited on
We wait in traffic
We wait for red lights to turn green
We wait on trains at train crossings
Workers wait for the weekend
Families wait for vacation
And we christians wait on God to act on our behalf!
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Now in our opening text it’s clear that David is in dire need for God to act on his behalf.
We don’t know what the situation was but it’s clear he was experiencing a GREAT TRIAL.
He talks about being in a “horrible pit” and felt like he was sinking in “miry clay”—sort of like quicksand.
And we can see from verse 1 that he had cried out to God for help, but God did not immediately respond.
Hence, David testifies to waiting patiently for God to act.—“I waited patiently for the Lord…”
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So first, when waiting on God to guide us and act on our behalf, we must:
I. Remember that delay is not always denial
Though David waited for a season of time for God to move, God’s delay was not God’s denial.
God finally answered powerfully and beautifully:
“He inclined to me and heard my cry…”
God moved and:
—pulled him out of the pit,
—placed him on a solid rock,
—established his steps (the direction he should go).
—And he was filled with the joy of a new song!
He experienced:
deliverance FROM God,
stability IN God,
the guidance OF God,
praise TO God,
and a joyful testimony ABOUT God!
“Many shall see it (what God has done for me) and will themselves trust in the Lord!”—vs. 3
But all these wonderful things that God did began with David waiting patiently on God to act.
“I waited patiently for the Lord…”
In the Hebrew language this can read:
“I waited and waited.”
Or, “I waited waitingly.”
Or, “in waiting I waited,—in hoping I hoped!”
He didn’t take matters into his own hands.
He didn’t give up on God.
He didn’t drown in discouragement.
He didn’t doubt God’s promises.
He patiently waited!
Now, its not just THAT he waited, it’s HOW he waited that made the difference!
Many Christians wait for God to move with their arms folded, watching their watch and patting their foot, saying “What’s taking God so long?”
That’s not how to wait on God!
We’re to wait in faith and trust!
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Now, another important part of waiting patiently on God is to understand that:
II. Timing is everything
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season (kairos: a fitting time), and a time (chronos: hour of commencement) for every purpose under heaven.”
The God of the Bible is a God of perfect timing!
—There is a fitting time and hour of commencement for every purpose of God.
When his fitting time and hour-to-begin comes,
it will be clear,
it will be marked by God’s peace,
God’s word,
and God’s confirmations.
Until then, we’re to wait patiently!
ILLUS: as a boy I loved to go down to the creek near our house and hunt for crawdads.
When a crawdad sees you reaching for him he will kick his tail and muddy up the water while he makes his exit to a nearby hole.
If you lack PATIENCE you’ll reach into the muddy water and try to grab him when you can’t see him.
I soon found out that he grabbed me instead of me grabbing him!
So I learned early on to never grab a crawdad in muddy water.
You patiently wait for the water to clear!
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Likewise, never make a major decision before God has made things clear to you!
Lam 3:25-26 “…it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.”
—When the circumstances and options are still unsettled,
—When your emotions are all over the place,
—When God has not yet clearly spoken,
Those are not the times to make a move.
Instead, wait patiently and quietly for the water to clear and God to speak.
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In 1 Samuel 10:8 we read of a command that the prophet Samuel gave to King Saul when Israel was about to go to battle with the Philistines:
Samuel said: “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”
Saul at first did what Samuel said.
In 1 Samuel 13, Saul and his army waited for Samuel to arrive to offer the sacrifice before going to war.
But when Samuel tarried the Israeli soldiers were talking about fleeing from the battle.
Emotions were high, anxiety had spread, and fear replaced faith.
So choosing to not wait on God, Saul made a fatal decision when the water was muddy.
He offered the sacrifice he was not authorized by God to do.
Right about then Samuel showed up and said, “You have done a foolish thing. . . .You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you.”—1 Samuel 13:13
You see, those seven days were designed by God to teach Saul patience and dependence upon God.
He waited the seven days, but just barely.
And the cost of this bad decision was high!
His rash actions caused Saul to lose the kingdom:
Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours,”—1 Samuel 15:28
If Saul had waited a few hours longer his future would have been very different!
That’s tough stuff!
The Apostle Paul tells us: “These things…happened to them as examples for us.”—1 Cor. 10:11
We’re supposed to learn from their mistakes so we don’t make the same ones.
The lesson is that we are to wait patiently on God in spite of pressures, trusting Him with all our heart!
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One final thing about waiting on God.
III. While waiting FOR Him, learn to wait ON Him!
Isaiah writes, “They that wait UPON the Lord shall renew their strength…”
When waiting for the Lord the wrong question is:
“What’s taking so long.”
The right question is what a waitress at a restaurant asks—“May I take your order.”
Lord, while I wait FOR you how can I wait ON you!
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Waiting FOR God to act doesn’t mean I do nothing.
Sometimes we’ve got to get off our “do nothing” and do something!
So while waiting FOR the Lord, wait ON the Lord by:
seeking Him,
praising Him,
serving Him,
glorifying Him,
growing deeper in Him,
and getting real with Him!
As you wait ON Him the Bible says you will renew your strength, soar high, walk far, and run hard without growing weary!
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Summary: 1.) delay is not always denial, 2.) Timing is everything 3.) while waiting FOR Him, wait ON Him!