Friday, February 06, 2009

waiting on God

Last Sunday we had a good message and theme in our church on waiting on God. I think for us in Jesus this is a most important discipline of faith.

How often are we unsure what to do in a given situation? What should we do? I know what I have done way too often in my life. Take matters in my own hands. Or exhaust myself trying to figure out what to do. But what should we be doing?

We should wait on the Lord. By prayer. By being in the word. More prayer. Searching. In the word. And more prayer after that. I include searching, because, yes, we may need to get more information as well as counsel from godly, and knowledgeable (on the subject) people. But we must do so as those who are waiting on the Lord.

I think I've made progress in my life, but I still don't think I'm that good at waiting. Like our Pastor Jack, I too can be impatient, or want the answer now. We live in an instant society when most everything is readily accessible to us. So we can be flabby and weak in the practice of waiting on God.

Do we have a problem now, or a difficult decision to make? Chances are we might have both. Let's make it first priority with all else we do to wait. Wait on the Lord. I need to do so. And I have a wife that is better at it than I am. So I ask her to wait with me.

What thoughts might you have perhaps from your own life about waiting on God?

4 comments:

Lanny said...

What cracks me up about this whole thing is that just when I get used to God's glacial speed then all of a xudden I am hit with His lightening speed. His timing for sure

Ted M. Gossard said...

Lanny,
Yes. Some of the matters we wait on fall into that category, maybe a majority. Others do not, and we tend to limit God by thinking it's an either/or proposition, when God's answer may lie elsewhere. Requires some imagination in our faith, with prayer- and probably waiting in the sense of pondering, then.

Kurt Willems said...

I am a terrible waiter. I have been better lately, but have not figured the art out. My wife and I are at a crossroads in our life right now. we are trying to figure out what our next step in ministry and education will be. We have a basic direction, and we know the desires that God has given us, but the door is not quite open yet. Waiting is quite frustrating, but I am learning that God gives dreams for a reason and that he always sees them through...on his timetable. I guess its the 'timetable' that is the difficult part in all this. Keep us in your prayers and thanks for your post on the subject!

Ted M. Gossard said...

Kurt,
Good point about God's timing. Our goal and God's are often different. Good when the more than less can begin to coalesce, or become the same.

Will pray.

I'm still waiting, too. But do have some sense of direction in my case over the matter I was referring to when I wrote this post.