waiting

Preparation, Trust, And Resting In Faith

Patience has never been one of my virtues. I hate delay and want to do everything right now. However, many times God asks us to wait upon Him and patiently trust Him. Why does God require this of us? If God is all-powerful why not just do whatever needs doing right away?

Many times, waiting on God is His will.

God says,

“Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.”

Waiting on God prepares us for what is to come

There is always a season of preparation before God moves in significant ways. Many people quiet themselves, being with Him in order to hear His voice clearly. When the time comes to move in Him, everything is ready, so without hesitation. In addition to this, events and circumstances need to be right. In Elijah’s case, the effects of the drought had to be felt in such a way that the people were ready to listen. Waiting on God allowed Elijah to prepare for what was to come.

Building trust God while waiting

Waiting on God builds trust. Many times when there are troubles, God asks us to wait when we think we should act. Our natural minds take stock of the events around us and want to “do something” right away, to alleviate the perceived problem. However, God in His wisdom and foreknowledge, sees the problem for what it really is and only acts when it is best to do so.

With our finite minds and limited perspective, we cannot see what He sees, therefore we must trust that our Father knows best. When we trust and we see that God has been right all along, we begin to have confidence in Him so that next time we can trust Him even more. Over time, if you trust God it becomes habit. Therefore practicing trust creates a good spiritual habit.

Waiting on God while resting in Him

Waiting on God, if done properly, allows us to rest in Him. Control over our lives is mostly an illusion. In reality, there are so many things that can and sometimes do go wrong that we must simply go with the flow, taking life as it comes. Unless God is with us we cannot manage what comes at us. It is like floating down a large, swift river; there is not much you can do but stay afloat. However, since God created the river, the river is subject to Him and He directs it as He wills. Therefore, as we float we pray and trust that our Father has the currents of our existence in His hands.

Waiting takes control our of our hands

To sum up, waiting on God exercises our faith.   Waiting on God also shows that we believe YHWH has the ability to do what He says. Also, waiting takes the control out of our hands and puts it in the hands of someone who can truly do something about our circumstances.

In the end, we realize this life is transitory and nothing is permanent. All the daily things we fret about now are of very little importance in the long run. It is better to wait upon God, allowing Him to lead and guide our decisions, so that when we stand before Him on that day, we have confidence that we have done our Father’s will.

Here by Kari Jobe

SEOIB-J