Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Wednesday, November 13. Are you facing a crucial decision? How will you determine the right path to take? Let's learn why seeking God and waiting for His direction are so important in part one of When It Is Wise to Wait. It is critical in every area of sports, on the football field, the baseball field, the tennis court, the golf course. Right timing is extremely important in negotiating, in business deals, in the stock market, in expressing love or anger. In every single area of life, timing does make a difference and in some areas, extremely critical. But for most people, they probably never think about the idea that timing is extremely crucial in the believer's walk. That is, in our relationship to Christ and our relationship to others, is timing really important?
Yes, it is. And that's what I want to talk about in this message, When It's Wise to Wait. That's the title, When It's Wise to Wait. And I want you to turn, if you will, to Psalm 27. And the fourteenth verse is a wonderful admonition for us. David said in verse fourteen, Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.
Now, to some people, that may be a strange idea. What do you mean, wait for the Lord? Why should you have to wait on God? Is God ever late?
Indeed, He's not. Then what in the world do you mean by waiting upon the Lord? Well, what we mean is simply this. To wait means to pause and wait for further instructions. When a person is waiting upon the Lord, what they're doing is remaining in their present circumstance, remaining in their present position, and waiting for further instruction from God. Lord, what do I do next?
What is the next move? This does not mean that you do nothing. It is a stillness. It is an active stillness that goes on in the heart of the person who is waiting.
What we mean by waiting upon the Lord is simply this. It is a directed waiting. It is purposeful. It is expectant. It is directed.
That is, it is directed toward God. You're not just sitting around waiting for something to happen, awaiting from some circumstance to change, or waiting till you get some fuzzy feeling about something and then you're going to make a move. But waiting upon the Lord is directing our attention to Him, expectantly awaiting His intervention in our circumstance in order to give us a word of instruction about what we're to do next. It may be a decision we're in the process of making. It may be some request that we have asked for, and so we are waiting to hear from Him.
Shall we move? Shall we take a step before we hear from Him, or shall we wait upon Him? So waiting upon the Lord is not passive but active.
It is active stillness. It's not waiting for just anything to happen, but it is waiting for a clear sense of direction or intervention of God. Now, what I would like to spend some time on here is to ask the question, why is it wise to wait upon the Lord? Why is it wise to wait? That is, for example, let's say that you've been praying and the Lord has told you, here's what I'm going to do.
Then why don't we just get on with it? Or you believe that God, in answer to your request, the answer has been yes. But remember this now, that when God answers our request, sometimes He says yes, sometimes He says no, and sometimes He says wait. Now, we love the yeses, amen?
We love the yeses. We don't like the nos, and we have a difficult time with the waits. Well, the wait's what I want to talk about because God never tells us to wait unless He has something specific in mind. And if you'll notice what He said through David here, and I think the reason He said it twice is because He knows it's real difficult for us to wait when we want to do something and we want to see something going on.
We want to make something happen. He says, wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord.
Now, why? Why would the Lord tell us to wait, and why is it wise for us to wait? Well, it's wise to wait, first of all, because oftentimes God only gives us very clear direction when we wait to get it. You see, you and I are not to operate the way the world operates. And one of the worst things that happens in a church or among believers in their business, in their social life, their relationships is, they look around, see what their friends are doing, and they decide they're going to do the same thing. Remember, first of all, you don't even live on the same plane. You're not in the same family. The Bible says you're not living in the same kingdom. You're not walking in darkness but light.
You have a whole different master. You walk into a different drumbeat, to a different cadence, and you're walking in step with God. Do not expect to live like the world, or should you ever think in terms of getting your cue from what the world says. Now, God is willing to give us direction, very specific, clear direction for any decision we're trying to make. Sometimes He doesn't give it quickly, and there's some reasons, and we're going to talk about that. But one of the reasons we are to wait upon the Lord is because we want to be sure we have clear direction from Him. Well, if I'm going to get God's direction, I'm going to have to wait until He's ready to give it.
And He's not always ready to give it exactly when I want it. And He has a reason oftentimes for causing us to wait. Now, I want you to go to Psalm 119, which is the longest of all the Psalms. Psalm 119, and I want you to look at several verses, beginning in verse seventy-four. All three of these verses say the same thing. Verse seventy-four says, May those who fear thee see me and be glad, because I wait for thy word. And then verse eighty-one says, My soul languishes for thy salvation, I wait for thy word. And verse 114 says, Thou art my hiding place, my shield, you are my protector, I wait for thy word. God is willing to give us direction for our life. And it is wise for us to wait until we have clear guidance in making decisions.
Otherwise, you're going to have to make them on your own. Now, when we walk full of the Holy Spirit, it is easier for us to know what to do next. It is far more natural for us to walk as we walk in the Spirit to know what to do next. But sometimes, even then, God says wait. And it's interesting how many times in the Psalms that David refers to this very idea of waiting upon the Lord.
Now, some people have the idea, and the world would certainly have this idea, what are you waiting for? It looks like to me you're wasting time just sitting around waiting on God. What kind of a God do you have anyway?
Well, I'll tell you what kind I have. He's omniscient. He knows everything. He's all wise.
So I listen. If I'm waiting on Him, I'm waiting to hear about the best and to hear from the best. He's all powerful. He can make anything that He wants me to wait for come to pass. And by the time I get through telling Him who I'm waiting for, they may have a change of mind.
We're not just waiting for anything to happen. We're waiting upon God to intervene in our circumstance. A long time ago, the Lord showed me this in a very difficult situation that I was in and really struggling to know the Lord's will. It took me a long time to struggle through finding the Lord's will about something. But I learned the principle, and the principle is this, that oftentimes the more difficult the decision is back here, and the longer you and God wrestle with that, and the longer He takes you through all that He takes you through to come to the right conclusion, I'm going to give you a couple of reasons why in a moment or two. Usually what I've found, because the reason this takes so long back here is because He knows when I get out there in the midst and the thick of the battle, I may be tempted to run. I may be tempted to warn out. I may be tempted to warn and escape. And so if He takes long enough and His method is such that I just will never forget the process of discovering His will and making sure that I know exactly what God is saying.
Listen, it doesn't make any difference how hot the fire, how deep the water, how black the clouds, and how thick the fog. If you know what God said back there, you can keep on going, and you will be absolutely fearless no matter what you face and what happens. But if you decide to make a decision, you just get to hopping through, and you're going to do your own thing in your own time, and you get out there, and the bottom drops out, and the fire gets intensified, and the fog moves in, and the waters begin to swell, and you begin to wonder, I wonder if I made the right decision. Am I in the right place?
Is this the right thing to do? I wonder what I should do next, and you've had it. And what happens is you put yourself in a very vulnerable position with the devil to attack you and totally confuse you, and more than likely, when the heat gets on, you're going to want to run. But as you waited for God to give you very clear instruction, you wouldn't run because you can say, Lord, it's getting awfully hot, it's getting awfully dark, and it's getting awfully unclear, but I know this is what you told me to do. And that makes all the difference in the world in the believer's walk.
The second thing I want you to notice here is this. A second reason it is wise for us to wait is that God uses waiting time to get us in step with His timing. Now, most of us understand we live in a now generation, so this generation wants it now and wants lots of it, right?
We want it now and we want lots of it. We have to get in step with God's timing. And if I'm in step with God's timing, here's what I'm going to have.
I'm going to have an inner stillness and peace within my heart. And sometimes when we know that a thing is right, we want to just, let's move on. But keeping in step with God's timing is very, very important because if we don't, we get ahead. When we get ahead, here's what happens. We get out here on our own.
When I'm out here on my own, all I can expect is what I can produce. If I'm walking in sequence and in concert with God's will and God's way and God's timing as slow as the world or my friends or my family may think I'm moving, it is still the right time. What is delayed timing from our interpretation is perfect timing from God's viewpoint. Usually, and most of the time, our decisions will affect other people. So in the process of God working in your life and getting you in step with His timing, the reason He wants you in step with His timing because what you're going to do is going to affect someone else's life.
So God has to get things lined up so that all the cogs fit perfectly timed. When you and I are walking in the will of God according to His timing, it doesn't make any difference how difficult it may be, how deep the valley or how intense the struggles and the pain and the suffering may be. If I'm walking in concert with God through His Spirit, I am going to have an inner peace and an inner stillness in my heart. And that's the way the Lord wants us to walk.
And there's some wonderful Scriptures here that refer to that. Now, so we must keep in step with Him, and when we do keep in step with Him, we're not going to be confused and confounded. Listen to what He said. He said, Now wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage.
Yes, wait for the Lord. Why did He say it twice? He knew that was going to be difficult because it was difficult for Him. A third reason that it's wise to wait, and that is that God uses the time of waiting to prepare us for the answer or the decision or what He has in store for us. Now, it's very difficult sometimes when God says to you, Yes, it's all right to marry her, but wait. Wait, wait. Why wait? Just wait. And sometimes God will say to a man or a woman in a business situation, This is what I want you to do, but I want you to wait. Why wait? Just wait.
Sometimes it is in the purchase of something, like in a house or an automobile or something else. God says, Wait. We don't wait. We decide we're going to do it now, and we suffer the consequences.
You see, think about this. We're not talking about just waiting around. We're talking about waiting upon a Heavenly Father who loves us with all of His infinite wisdom and power and love, who always wants the best for us, who always chooses the best for us, who will always give us the best, who will always protect us for the best if we are wise enough to wait.
And so what happens? He wants us to wait because oftentimes He is preparing us. Sometimes young people want to get married. They're not ready to get married. And if they ask the Lord and God says, Wait, it's okay. It's all right, but not right now. Just give it a little time. And oftentimes people get a little anxious about making money.
They want to make a whole lot of money right now. And it may be that God would prosper you at some time out there when He knows that you can handle it. Every single pastor that I know can give you the same testimony, and I'm going to give it to you because every single one of them sitting out there listening to this message will say, Amen. Amen, Stanley. Say it again.
So I'm going to say it twice. Here's what I've seen happen. People come to church, join the church. They don't have too much, and they begin to tithe, and God begin to bless them. And they give more, and God begin to increase their blessings. And He begins to prosper them, and they're trusting God and waiting upon God and making wise decisions, and God begins to bless them and bless them.
And what happens? After a while, I don't see them every Sunday morning and Sunday night. I just see them on Sunday morning. After a while, months go by, a year goes by, I see them once in a while on Sunday morning, and before long, I can't even find them.
You know why? They've been so blessed they don't need God anymore. Friend, every pastor alive can tell you and name you people in the church where he passed is where he's seen that happen. Some people can't handle it. And then what happens?
They usually blow it out there somewhere, and then they come back. Oh, I can't imagine. I can't figure out what happened.
I can tell you what happened. You couldn't handle the blessing. And see, sometimes He has to prepare us for what He wants to do, and some of that preparation's a little tough. The fourth thing I want you to notice here is that the waiting time is God's time to strengthen our faith. You see, if God just gave me everything I asked for, answered all my prayers just like that, that wouldn't do anything for my faith. That wouldn't even take any faith. But if I ask and I have assurance and God is silent and nothing happens, then I have to trust Him.
Lord, here's what You said. And so you see, you and I can't always figure it out, but if I understand what God is up to and that God is in the process of strengthening our faith. You see, it's strengthening our faith that God always has an object, and there are many reasons God has us to wait.
That's one of them. And then I think one of the primary reasons He would have us to wait is to get our attention about our life. Now, sometimes that's to sift our motives. There are times when you and I make requests for God and it's right, but our motive's not right.
And so what does He do? He just sort of holds it off until our motive for desiring that is right, our motive for going there, our motive for having this, our motive for doing this or getting this promotion, or whatever it might be. He has to sift our motives, and all of us have to have our motives sifted continuously to keep us from getting prideful and egotistical and self-dependent. And a second reason that I think He does this sifting is to deal with sins in our life, things that creep into our lives that we're not even aware of, things that get shoved back in the crevices and the corners of our life, and here is God wanting to give us His best. Now, remember this, that God is a holy God.
Now, think about this. Here is a holy Christ who desires to fellowship with me and to love me and to give me His best and to exercise His life and to release His life through me and through you. So what kind of a person is the Lord Jesus Christ going to fellowship with? One who has a clean heart. Why?
Because He's holy. Does that mean we're perfect? No. Sinless?
No. Never make any mistakes? Never sin? Never fail? Never fault?
No. We need to follow Him and we walk after Him and the times we falter and we fall, we confess, thank God for it, keep moving. What does He do? Sometimes He withholds the blessing because of sin, habits, activities. Now, why does He do it?
Here's the reason. Because He knows if He answers that, if He comes on the scene and intervenes and gives me what I want and allows that sin or that wrong motive to be there, what am I going to do? Listen, I'm just going to take that into the blessing and what I'm going to do is I'm going to mess up the blessing because the motive is wrong or there is sin there that's going to frustrate what God's up to. Now, God desires the best for us, always the best, ready and willing to give the best. But He gives it when we're ready in His timing, when we're walking in concert with Him, when He has strengthened our faith and in the process of sifting our motives and those things in our life that ought not to be there. It is always wise to wait for God. Thank you for listening to When It Is Wise To Wait. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by InTouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
