Aggressively Waiting on God!
People often tell me that they are waiting on God. How does one wait on God? Waiting on God does not mean that we have heard something from God but engage in the world all the time hoping that it will come to pass. What does the Scripture say about waiting on God for the fulfillment of His promises in our lives?
In the Parable of a sower sowing the seeds (Mark 4:3-8, 13-20), Jesus points out that some seeds fall on the wayside and are devoured by the enemy, Satan, some do not grow up because of the hardness of the heart, some get choked up by the cares of the world, and some grow up to yield thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Therefore, it is not automatic that all of what has spoken to us may come to pass unless we prepare our hearts and wait on Him and wait on Him earnestly.
Here are at least 8 places and instances of Scriptures on people waiting earnestly on God for their fulfillment.
Waiting at the Temple! Prophet Simeon and Prophetess Anna both waited in the Temple: “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:25-26). Simeon waited for the Messiah, the Consolation of Israel, and received the promise that he would not see death until it happened. What did he do? He simply waited in the Temple for the fulfillment.
Here's Anna’s testimony: “Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years (until she was eighty-four), who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:36-37). Anna too was blessed by God to see Baby Jesus and bless Him while she was at the Temple. Waiting takes us to a higher level when we earnestly wait in the place where God resides and moves without wasting time elsewhere and yet thinking that we have been waiting on God.
Waiting in the Upper Room! Jesus specifically commanded the Apostles to not leave Jerusalem but wait for the promise of the Father fulfilled: “And being assembled together with them, (Jesus) commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now’” (Acts 1:4-5). Jesus did not tell them that they would receive the Holy Spirit in 10 days, or else, many more than 120 would have waited in the upper room. Those who waited received: “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all (together) with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them (tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each). And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:1-4). The believers who heeded the command of Jesus and waited on the Promise of the Father, and Holy Spirit, received the promise. There is no wiggle room in the commands of God. God’s instructions are very clear for any commoner to understand. Only those who obey with radical and implicit obedience receive the blessing. God’s fulfillment awaits those at the point of their obedience!
Waiting in Your Own Home! Cornelius waited on God in his own home but with a powerful testimony: “There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment (Cohort), a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms (charitable gifts) generously to the people and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day (3 PM) he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius!’ And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, ‘What is it, lord?’ So, he said to him, ‘Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God’” (Acts 10:1-4).
Cornelius feared God! He gave generously to the poor!
He prayed to God ALWAYS!
Cornelius had the testimony of walking with God with his whole family!
In other words, Cornelius made his own home a sanctuary filled with the fear of God, generosity in sharing his goods with the needy, and prayer to God continuously. God visited him where he lived and fulfilled His promise in him and his household by directing the top man of authority in His Kingdom, Apostle Peter to visit him and share the good news with his household: “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision (the Jews) who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God” (Acts 10:44-46). Cornelius received the blessed promise from God and the Holy Spirit upon him and his entire household when he lived the life of a believer in his own home. There were no distractions, no compromises, and no wanderings in his lifestyle! His life was marked by his separation to God!
Waiting at the Feet of Jesus! Mary earnestly looked for those moments when she could sit and wait at the feet of Jesus to hear the mysteries of heaven spoken by Jesus: “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.’ And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her’” (Luke 10:38-42).
How often do we prioritize hearing the wisdom of God in our conversation with one another, especially with those who walk with God? In our waiting, we must engage ourselves in spiritual conversations to find the answers that we do not know only to be strengthened in our own times of waiting. Hema and I personally love those moments of spiritual conversation in the homes we are invited to. We have edified ourselves and we bring clarity to those who are (we all are) in waiting.
Waiting in the Altar! Hannah was relentlessly provoked by her adversary but when she came to the tabernacle, she found her place at the altars where she was alone with God. She prayed: “And (Hannah) was in bitterness of soul and prayed to the Lord and wept (greatly) in anguish. Then she made a vow and said, ‘O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head’” (I Samuel 1:10-11). Hannah was not distracted even by the misjudgment of Eli, the High Priest. She poured her heart out to the Lord. God remembered her: “Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So, it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his name Samuel (“Heard by God”), saying, ‘Because I have asked for him from the Lord’” (I Samuel 1:19-20).
How often do we go to church and even to an altar of the church without distractions and wrong focuses in our times of waiting? Hannah overcame her adversity in prayer, and she was alone with God at the altar. God remembered her and honored her in her time of waiting!
A Life of Waiting - Cleaving and Clinging to the Righteous! Ruth lost everything, her husband, her brother-in-law, and her father-in-law. Her own sister Orpah went back to the Moabites but Ruth saw something special in her old Jewish mother-in-law that none of her people saw to cling to her and follow her to Bethlehem with this vow: “Entreat (urge) me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me” (Ruth 1:16-17).
Ruth found favor in the eyes of Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer. Here is the conversation between Boaz and Ruth: “And Boaz answered and said to her, ‘It has been fully reported to me, all that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and have come to a people whom you did not know before. The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.’ Then she said, ‘Let me find favor in your sight, my lord; for you have comforted me, and have spoken kindly to (the heart of) your maidservant, though I am not like one of your maidservants’” (Ruth 2:11-13). Ruth obtained the promise in that she became the great-grandmother of King David in whose lineage the Messiah came!
It takes wisdom to recognize the distinction of the true servants of God over all others and attach yourself to godly fellowship to learn from and serve under such anointed servants. Some believers had started in such a place, but they hardly continued to finish and receive their promises. Some promises will only be fulfilled with the help of a mentor praying with you and for you because the same God that leads you to the mentor also burdens the mentor to travail for the completion of your destiny. The joy of the Lord belongs to you and your mentor because of your mutual obedience to God’s plan for your life. Hema and I have hosted God’s servants in our home until now to fast and pray together and receive instructions from God through those choice servants for our own edification, exhortation, and comfort. A life of waiting demands that we cling to godly mentors and follow what God instructs us through them!
Waiting in God’s Holy Presence! Moses separated himself to God’s presence for the fulfillment of God’s promise to his people, the Jews, that God alone would lead them to the Promised Land. Time and time again, Moses pleaded with God to forgive their sins when they rebelled against him, Aaron, and God Himself. Moses waited on God to receive the commandments twice, and God showed him His glory atop the mountain. Even then, Moses was not selfish but prayed for God to take back his people as God’s own inheritance. God yielded once again to the request of Moses: “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.’ So, Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. Then he said, ‘If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked (stubborn) people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.’ And He said: ‘Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you’ “(Exodus 34:5-10).
God’s servants are never done waiting in the presence of God for all those God has burdened them with until the day God calls them home. Moses is an example of just that and God testified of Moses in His own words: “If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face” (Numbers 12:6-8). The promises of God are fulfilled as God’s servants wait in God’s presence to build God’s Kingdom on earth!
Waiting in Daily Fellowship! “And they (the New Testament Church) continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine (teachings) and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers…So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42, 46-47).
In conclusion, a New Testament Church-style worship and fellowship may be impossible but our waiting on God on His promises must include our conscious and continuous fellowship with God as our priority over our activities in the world. Worshiping God is essential at home! We must wait in places and among believers where God moves!
Worship and godly fellowship in one accord are paramount to any church!
Godly communication is necessary in any community and among churches!
Godly leaders everywhere must stand in the gap and continue to intercede for the fulfillment of God’s restoring promises among their families, churches, and communities!
Our waiting is solely focused on God!
Our waiting is free from diversions and distractions!
Our waiting avoids wrong focuses!
Our God will honor our waiting on Him and answer our prayer!
We will continue to experience God in all His promises and fulfillments!
The world will know that we are a people of God’s answers!
Our neighborhoods will know that God is Real in His Word!
Let us wait on God!
Prayer “Heavenly Father, I love You and adore You and bow down before You. I thank You for the knowledge of knowing You and receiving all Your blessings upon my life. I am eternally grateful for the gift that You are in my life. I wait on You with earnest expectation and hope for the fulfillment of all that You have promised me and my loved ones from Your Word. I will live a life of blessing to others around me by the grace and love I have received from You, Lord. I am Yours, and Yours alone, O Lord. In the Most Precious and Wonderful Name of Jesus, I pray. Amen! Amen!!”
______________________________________________________________________________________________lives
John Jeyaseelan
Comments