He Works for Those Who Wait

// May 13, 2020 //

Waiting.

What do you think of when you hear the word waiting? I picture someone sitting watching the clock. Waiting for a train. Waiting for a friend to arrive. Waiting for a phone call. Usually, I don’t think of waiting as being such a long time and being such a long process.

But Noah waited 40 days and nights for the rain to cease. Abraham waited 25 years for Isaac. Jacob waited 14 years for Rachel. The people of Israel waited hundreds of years for the Messiah to come.

And here we all are…waiting.

We’re waiting for restaurants to open, for jobs to go back to normal, for press conferences, for seeing family. We’re waiting to see what the Lord is going to do through all of this.

I think so often we forget that in the waiting, the Lord works in our hearts. We want to see how He works in our lives externally. Sure, we may know it in our heads, but are our lives proof that we believe that God is working in the waiting?

I think we also forget that He WANTS to work for us; it just might look different than what we are wanting. We get caught up in our own circumstances and our own desires and forget that He is aching to move in our lives. To show us His greatness and His mercy and His glory.

So.

I propose a perspective shift.

I propose a perspective shift on our circumstances, on waiting, and on our role in serving God.

FIRST, I CHALLENGE YOU TO LOOK FOR HOW GOD IS SERVING YOU. BECAUSE FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE DON’T SERVE GOD. GOD SERVES US.

Acts 17:25 – God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything, but He himself gives to all men life and breath and everything.

God does not NEED me. He GIVES life and breath and everything. Did you hear that? Literally everything.

2 Chron 16:9 – The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself mighty on behalf of those whose heart is whole toward Him.

Our God is so overflowing with power and love that He LOOKS to show Himself as mighty and change their life.

Isaiah 30:18 – 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. 

The Lord exalts Himself to show mercy to me. He shows He is great by treating me with mercy and grace. 

“GOD’S GREATNESS IS NOT MAGNIFIED BY HIS GATHERING WORKERS TO WORK FOR HIM, BUT RATHER HIS GREATNESS IS MAGNIFIED BY WORKING FOR HIS PEOPLE.” -JOHN PIPER

Our God is a great, mighty God who loved us first. He is always working for us and fighting for us. It always starts with Him. He draws us to Himself (John 6), and He loves us.

I challenge you, look for how God is working for You.

THEN, I CHALLENGE YOU TO WAIT.

Why?

Isaiah 64:4 – From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. 

God acts for those who waits for Him. This working that we know He does? He does it for those who wait. And remember Isaiah 30:18? Blessed are those who wait for Him.

Let me say it a different way. It’s not just that God works for us while we wait. It’s that God works for those WHO DO WAIT. I don’t know about you, but it makes me want to wait a little bit more. I want to be the One that God is working for. I want to be near Him. I want to be as close to His goodness as I can. I want to experience His life-changing glory.

So what does waiting look like?

“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do nothing until the command is given.”—G. Campbell Morgan

From this quote, we see that waiting is:

1. Activity under command

2. Readiness for any new command that may come

3. The ability to do nothing until the command is given

Activity under command – As you pour your life out, pray. As you work, listen. You are waiting on the Lord by watching for His will.

Reading for any new command that may come – stand still and watch God work. It’s not time to enter the battle yet. Isaiah 30:15: In quietness and trust shall be your strength

The ability to do nothing until the command is given – Do NOT turn to your own plans. Do NOT turn to your comfort. Consult God and ask Him for help. Saturate yourself in the word and pray.

Which are you called to right now? It seems that many of us are on the third one. We are not doing much until a command is given. We are locked up in our homes. So we don’t turn to the left or to the right. We don’t make a good thing ultimate, an idol. We lament to the Lord and ask Him for help.

But as we operate in our homes, we are in stage 1 and 2! And as things open back up in the state, we will be ready to act. So as we act, let’s wait on the Lord. Let’s stand and watch God work. Let’s be strong in quietness and trust. Let’s pray, listen, and watch for His will.

Why? Because God is worthy. Because He laid down His life for us. Because He loved us first. And because when we wait for Him, He works for us. He blesses us.

It starts and ends with God working.

In the middle, we wait. May this waiting period incline our hearts to pine for the return of Christ!

LASTLY, I CHALLENGE YOU TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

1. In what area of my life am I in the first stage of waiting?

2. The second?

3. The third?

4. In each area, how can I wait best on the Lord?

5. How do I see God working for me in my life?

One major area that I am waiting in is for my baby. While I am not doing much until the command is given to push this baby out of me, it’s really easy for me to worry. Will I be a good mom? Will I be able to run my photo business when I have him? Will I know how to nurse? And since there isn’t a ton of planning to do right now, it’s easy to feel like I need to fill my mind with these questions. I label it “preparing”, when really it is worrying. It’s turning to the left and to the right instead of upward to my God.

So, I ask Jesus to quiet my heart. In quietness and trust shall be my strength. I give Him my fears, and I choose to quiet my mind by focusing on His goodness and looking for how He is working.

I see Him working in growing this miracle in my womb. I see Him working in how my body is changing. It is AMAZING how bodies prepare for a baby all on their own. I see Him working in mine and Mac’s relationship. I see Him growing my trust. I see Him helping me in my weakness when I am tired and uncomfortable. He is constantly working for me. I see how He helps me overcome panic and replaces it with peace.

My God is good. He is Sovereign, and He is capable. He is not an incompetent or an incomplete God. He has a plan, and He is working in my waiting.

I read this quote the other night: “It’s been said that when God wants to grow mushrooms, he can do it overnight, but when he wants to grow a mighty oak, it takes a few years. What do we want to be, a mushroom or an oak? If we want to be an oak, it is well worth the wait.”

God wants to work for you and with you, friend. He wants you to be an oak in Him. Join me in the waiting.

___

I read and listened to a few different things before writing this post, but a major influence in my thoughts was from this John Piper message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZnQpb4yWkU

I encourage you to listen! Piper has a way with words that makes the Word come to life. Great sermon on Isaiah 64:1-4.