I think we have all had our share of sitting in our doctor’s waiting room. It seems we’re either sitting waiting for our vision exam, teeth cleaning, or the doctor that’s talking loudly next door with the other patient breaching the HIPAA laws. Life appears to be about waiting and waiting. And, honestly, it is. It’s about waiting our turn. The fact of the matter is, we don’t mind waiting on a lot of things. But, if we’re waiting on God, it makes us feel like we’re missing out on something. Of course, the enemy makes us anxious and keeps us distracted where we can’t focus on God. So, we being to pay attention to the patient next door that’s talking to the doctor instead of focusing on our own condition. If we’re at the doctor’s office, evidently we have a condition that needs attention, right? But, be assured today. God is saying “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Trust! You’re waiting is not in vain.
Nonetheless, do you ever think about waiting on what, though? Exactly! What!?!? I think that’s the most difficult thing to figure out. What are we waiting on? Lately, I have found myself waiting on God. And He asked me the question, “Waiting on what? Because I’ve been waiting on you.”
Wow! That. Right. There!
God put the wait right back in my lap. Honestly, there is nothing else that God can do for me because He has already given me everything I need that pertains to life and godliness. By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. “We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.” 2 Peter 1:3
Yes! Conviction fell on me tough because God spoke back immediately. Therefore, I could no longer use the excuse “waiting on God” to move. And the more that I though about it. God was so spot on. I got tickled thinking about it. I guess God was saying… “Valerie, not this time girl. You going to stop lollygagging around putting your destiny off on me.”
Has God spoke to you so boldly that you had to agree? What an amazing feeling, even we don’t agree with the response. The fact is, he cared enough to speak. That’s the most beautiful thing!
Consequently, sometimes we can get stuck in a place “waiting on God” to make ourselves feel safe. Or, could it be that God is waiting on us to do something? I believe there is a difference between the two. However, I really believe in the latter more than the former.
Upon taking my grandson to the park to ride his scooter, we decided to walk around the lake, which is about 3 miles around. So, his GG Love took it upon herself to stop to help him throw rocks in the lake, watch the turtles sitting on the broken branches in the water, feed the ducks and wave at the runners and joggers passing by.
Well! With about a mile left on our walk, my grandson said… “GG Love, try to catch me.” I immediately said… “I can’t catch you. You are going too fast.” So he persisted. “GG Love, try to catch me.” So, being the GG Love that I am, I started running slowly to catch him. And, yes, I did. He was so proud of me for catching him.
I was keeping the pace for a minute. Then, all of a sudden, he “tow-out-of-dodge” going as fast as he could to leave me behind. I found myself trying to keep up with him. Mind you, he’s on a scooter and I’m 57 years of age on foot. Now! That doesn’t mean that some of you 57 year olds could not have kept the pace. I couldn’t nor did I have the desire to.
I quit! He turned around and said… “GG Love, come on!”
In short, he didn’t wait.
Our waiting on God can become such a comfortable place to remain. A cliche or mental permission to pause. It simply feels safer for us to remain comfortable. And, the mental pause gives us time to make decisions that are necessary to our lives. Sometimes we make those decisions, but in some cases it helps us to remain in our comfortable place. But, did you know not making a decision is making a decision?
Listen! As my grandson rode his scooter and kept the pace with me, he talked about so many things before taking off and leaving me. Instead of me listening to him, I was focused on distracting him and complaining about being tired and not wanting to run to catch up with him.
My focus should have been listening to him and gathering the information that was important to him at the time. I assumed if I had become intrigued with what he was telling me, I could have kept the pace. I believe it’s the same thing with our God when we are in relationship with Him.
In our waiting, we get so distracted with all the other things that are going on around us. We miss the instructions or all the information that God is trying to teach us so when it’s time to move from the waiting on God stage, we get frustrated, confused and can’t keep up with Him because we missed it.
Y’all know that feeling you get when you miss God. Whew! Chile! I’ve been there done that so I kept myself comfortable in the “waiting on God” stage. I really didn’t have to make any decisions because in my mind, I was cool “waiting on God” to move. And, if he didn’t, it was God’s fault because I didn’t get the instructions along the way.
I truly believe that God has placed us on earth for His purpose. We are not here by happenstance. We’ve been willed here. We have to discover and listen for the will of God for our lives as He is walking or keeping the pace with us. It’s not His fault when we miss it. God will never bring us to a place to leave us to die. But, I do believe God will allow us to remain in a place until we die.
There is a difference. It’s making a decision.
For those of you believing God has scootered off and left you, He hasn’t! He picked up the pace. He is leading and guiding you to where you should be in Him. Of course, it’s scary and it looks like you’re not going to be able to keep the pace.
I know that feeling all too well! At this point, you just have to trust where He is leading you, especially being way ahead of you. God wants us to live by the information He has given us—not our head knowledge. But, it’s difficult to exercise the information if we’re always trying to figure everything out about God’s next move. But when you’re willing to say, “God, I can’t figure this out, so I’m going to trust You to guide me so I can be set free,” then you can be comfortable in spite of not knowing.
Trusting God often requires not knowing how God is going to accomplish what needs to be done and not knowing when He will do it. Remember, you have to keep the pace and not quit. We often say God is never late, but generally He isn’t early either. Why? Because He uses times of waiting to stretch our faith in Him and to bring about change and growth in our lives. So you have to know the difference between “waiting on God” and when He is leading and guiding you to your “prayed for place.”
You know those places we’ve prayed for and when God moves, we’re afraid to go? Lordy! Don’t get me started.
God gives us hopes and dreams for certain things to happen in our lives, but He doesn’t always allow us to see the exact timing of His plan. Nor should He because. He is God. Although frustrating, [Did I say that?] not knowing the exact timing is often what keeps us from waiting on God or even moving as a matter of fact because we don’t know how long it is going to take God to get us there. But, when we accept God’s timing, we can learn to live our lives while God is working on our problems and situations.
In conclusion, don’t be like me as I strolled along with my grandson trying to distract him and slow him down because I was too tired to finish the walk. I missed the beauty of the scenery; the conversations he was having with me to help me along the way.
So, you are right where you need to be. God causes things to happen exactly at the right time! Your job is not to figure out when, but to make up your mind that you won’t give up until you cross the finish line. Just keep the pace and don’t quit. The more you trust Jesus and keep your eyes focused on Him, the more life you’ll have. Trusting God brings life. Believing brings rest. So stop trying to figure everything out, and let God be God in your life.
Listen, gather the information [the word of God], keep the pace and then, move when God tells you to keep up or to catch up.
You got it.
Today, be reminded that Christianity is nothing without patience, and learning to wait, even when it seems like God has forgotten you, remember, it’s an important part of your journey.
1. Romans 12:12 – “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation,be constant in prayer.”
2. Psalm 27:14 – “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
3. 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
4. Exodus 14:14 – “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
5. Isaiah 30:18 – “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
