The God Who Acts, Pt. 2

We have to resist the urge to make things happen or get ahead of God. He promises us that if we wait on Him, He will strengthen our hearts.

The God Who Acts, Pt. 2

"Wait on the LORD;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the LORD!"

(Psalm: 27:14)

I love this verse. God commands us as His children to wait on Him. In fact, He tells us twice in this one verse in the Bible. It takes courage on our part to wait on God. We have to resist the urge to make things happen or get ahead of God. He promises us that if we wait on Him, He will strengthen our hearts. To wait on God, we have to trust God. We also have to humble ourselves before Him and believe that He knows best. He knows what He is doing. He has not forgotten us. He is not avoiding us. He has a plan, and in order for us to be blessed to the maximum, we have to wait. Good things come to those who wait.

This week, we are exploring the 14th Principle in the series of messages that Dr. Charles Stanley preached entitled, "30 Life Principles". He asks and then answers the following question: What does it mean to wait upon God?

It means to be patient. Patience is the will to wait. We push the pause button, slow down, and then wait for further instructions. You and I are tempted to go and make it happen. But God in all His sovereign power acts on behalf of those who wait on Him. Waiting is not doing nothing. Waiting is pausing and deliberately trusting God.
It requires us to have a calm acceptance of whatever God is doing.
We must trust Him to intervene. He acts in righteousness; we do not have to worry about God making mistakes. He will not forget us or overlook us.
We must let go of what we think is an immediate need and not seek instant gratification. When we take matters into our own hands, we make mistakes, and some of these can be devastating. We think, if it does not happen now, it will never happen... but we should not think that way.
We must remove all the deadlines. If He does not act on our schedule, we think it is all over. Let us read again Psalm 27:14:

"Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

It takes a strong person to face temptation and wait. Waiting builds character. Psalm 25:3 says, "Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause."

How are you doing in this critical area in your relationship with God? Are you growing impatient while you wait? Hang in there! It will be worth it.