Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.
I have been hearing a lot on waiting lately. It seems everyone is waiting for something…..we are waiting…our friend Angel is waiting…..people are waiting.
When you think of waiting, have you ever defined it as: being ready? How about: to accept from some source; expect; the origin (the point whence motion or action proceeds), by the means of, exceedingly, (+ abundantly above), forth from among, x heavenly?
I never looked at it like that. To me it is defined: agony…….if I shift my focus off the Lord. It’s a control issue. The Lord has told me a few times over these last couple of years to take my hand off the plow.
Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that it was good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Together these made up one day.
John 1:1-5 In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and He was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that He didn’t make. Life itself was in Him, and this life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
Has the Lord ever revealed His plan for you and you jump to it lickety split thinking the time is now? Do you try to muscle through it and “get ‘er done”? I think most of us have been there. We like to be in control.
The thing about control is that when we give it to the Lord, we realize that now it is totally up to Him to work it all out and if we take our eyes off Him for even a second the “f” word can creep in.
FEAR! It is like yeast. If you have ever made bread from scratch, you know what I mean. Yeast feeds on itself and grows. Fear makes us panic and do stupid things, like get out of the Lord’s timing.
What are we afraid of? Do we think the Creator of all things is unable to perform what He says He is going to do? Are we afraid it won’t be good or will take too long?
People, if He said it, NOTHING and NOBODY can stop it except you. The Father is quite adept at what He does and remember that He can see the beginning and the end……dawn to dusk. Read Ephesians 2:10 above again.
There has to be a period of growing spiritually….bearing fruit time, before we can do the good things He planned for us and waiting is a great training field. Waiting trains us to trust Him even when things look bad.
Last Sunday I heard a great message called “Waiting for Dawn” by Pastor Jacob Sheriff from Victory Life Church in Durant, Oklahoma. It encouraged me so much that I have listened to it five times since then! I love how he paralleled waiting on the Lord’s timing with the waiting of his third child’s birth as well as a bit of chaos with three children. I also loved how he reminded us that in the beginning there was darkness, chaos, confusion and an empty wasteland…..until God spoke! A further reminder is that the Light was always there even if it didn’t look like it. (There is so much more in his message. Please take the time to listen to it. You will be so encouraged!)
I see it as the “wasteland” being the way things appear to be. If we draw close to the Lord and trust Him, take Him at His word, none of that matters because the Light is there. We don’t see the wasteland….we see Him. Remember when Peter was walking on the water? All was well until he took his eyes off Jesus. We recreate the wasteland when we try to take control and take our eyes off Jesus. He is ever there saying, “No worries. I’ve got this. Just look at Me.”
1 Peter 4:19b …and trust yourself to the God who made you, for He will never fail you.
The Father’s time is impeccable……..neither late nor early. Wait for the Lord and don’t lose heart.
Be blessed as you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus as you wait on His perfect timing in your situation, and remember that the God that is working all things together for you is the same God that created something from nothing!
Sources: The picture above is of our stream…..a very peaceful place to wait. All scriptures are NLT. Definitions are from: Thorndike Barnhart Comprehensive Desk Dictionary, 1950 and The Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Thomas Nelson, 1990) 1551, 1537 and 1209. Duane Sheriff Ministries www.dsheriff.org (Go to “Watch Live” find Jacob Sheriff and his “Waiting for Dawn” message. Anything I used from Pastor Jacob’s message was used with his approval. )
