Spiritual Development - October 2019
“4 Life Changing Ways to Wait on the Lord” by Stephen Altrogge
#1 – We Wait On The Lord In Faith - There are two types of waiting. The first type is unsure, fearful waiting. We’re not sure if God is going come through, as if he’s some sort of unreliable parent who forgets to pick up his kids at soccer practice. We hope God delivers us...but what if he doesn’t? What if God leaves us hanging? What if he fails to come through at the most crucial time? This kind of waiting is displeasing and dishonoring to God. When our waiting is pocked with doubt and unbelief, it smears God’s character, making him look like a deadbeat deity who can’t be trusted. The second type is waiting on the Lord in strong faith. We’ve run all the numbers, calculated the odds, and can’t figure out how God is going to come through for us. From a human perspective, it looks like it’s lights out for us. Nevertheless, we trust him because we know his character. We know that he’s infinitely good and loving, and that he will deliver us, even if that deliverance isn’t the kind we expected. When life is in shambles, one of our greatest temptations is to lean on our own understanding. To try to figure everything out. To play out every scenario in our heads and determine which one is most likely. We become like divine weathermen, trying to map out which way God’s providence will blow, or divine poker players, counting the cards and calculating which will most likely come up next. But when we wait on the Lord in faith, we make a conscious effort to reject our own understanding. (Prov. 3:5-6) Our understanding is extraordinarily limited. I mean, seriously, think about it… We’re aware of about 1/1,000,000,000th of what is happening in every circumstance. I’m only aware of what I can perceive with my senses. God knows everything that’s happening in our lives and HE knows exactly what he will do. While I’m waiting for the Lord, God is doing thousands of good things on my behalf. I love how John Piper puts it: God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them. Waiting that honors God is marked by faith in his character.
#2 – We Wait On The Lord Loudly - Have you ever noticed that when David had to wait on God to deliver him, he was very loud about it? (Ps. 35:17) David waited on God in faith, but he certainly wasn’t quiet, meek, and mild while he was waiting. He was constantly crying out to the Lord for deliverance. At times, you could even mistake the intensity of his requests for irreverence. He questioned God, pestered him, pleaded with him, and begged him. David was never passive when he had to wait on the Lord. He was loud and aggressive in his waiting. Why? Because David knew that God was good, faithful, and kind. He knew that God loved to give good gifts, including deliverance, to his children. And so, like any child, he asked for that deliverance repeatedly and loudly. Jesus reinforced this truth with the parable of the persistent widow. She pestered and harassed the unrighteous judge until he couldn’t take it any longer. If even a corrupt judge will respond to persistent requests, how much more will our loving God? Waiting that honors God is characterized by persistent pleas for deliverance.
#3 – We Wait On The Lord Patiently - When it comes to waiting, I am the world’s least patient person. They could make a reality show out my impatience. When traffic gets congested, I transform into Jeff Gordon, cutting left, zagging right, anything to make forward progress. When it comes to having to wait on God to deliver me…again, not so patient. And, of course, God always gives me what I want, when I want it, because I know what’s best for me. Except that I don’t, and if God did give me everything I wanted right when I asked for it, I would probably be dead or living in a van down by the river (See: Matt Foley, motivational speaker). If something is good for me, God will give it to me at the appropriate time. He’s not going to hold back a single blessing from me, and he’s going to give them to me when I’ll get the most goodness from them and he’ll get the most glory. It was good for David to be king of Israel, but first, he had to hide in the desert caves. It was good for Abraham to have a son, but first there needed to be no doubt that both him and Sarah were completely barren. It will be glorious when Christ returns, but first, the full number of people must be saved. God doesn’t serve up undercooked blessings. When the time is right, he delivers the full course meal. God doesn't serve up undercooked blessings. When the time is right, he delivers the full course meal. Until then, we’re called to wait on the Lord patiently.
#4 – We Wait On The Lord Dependently - The Apostle Paul knew a thing or twenty about waiting. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, he wrote about his thorn in the flesh. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. This thorn in the flesh was no joke. Paul was no pansy. He had been tossed in prison, almost stoned to death, beaten with rods, pursued by people who wanted to kill him, and shipwrecked, all for the sake of the gospel. And yet, this thorn was so bad that Paul pleaded with God three times to take it away. Whatever the thorn was – blindness, persecution, demonic attack – it made Paul feel desperate for deliverance. There’s no indication in Scripture that God ever removed the thorn, but what we do know is that while Paul was waiting for deliverance he depended mightily on the sufficient grace of God. Paul’s thorn forced him to throw his entire weight on God’s sustaining grace and power. That was the only way he could survive. The same is true for us. The only way we can survive in our waiting is to throw ourselves fully on God. We are completely and totally dependent on him. If we don’t wait dependently on the Lord, we end up bitter, dried up, and hopeless. The only way to survive the long dark is to cling to Christ, the true light. We wait for the Lord dependently, relying on his power and not our own.