Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, November 15. Do you associate waiting with wasting time? Let's adjust our thinking by learning about the positive benefits of waiting on God. Now, what do we mean by waiting upon the Lord? Well, to wait upon the Lord simply means to pause for further instructions. It means to remain in your present circumstances doing whatever you're doing until God gives you a word of instruction to do otherwise. It isn't just sitting around doing nothing.
It isn't just a passive attitude about life, but rather it is active stillness. It is directed, purposeful, expectant waiting. It is prayerful, obedient waiting because there is no such thing as waiting upon God with the absence of prayer or obedience because if you're going to wait upon Him, you must be willing to be obedient to Him. And the waiting is going to involve both obedience and prayer. If sometimes we feel like, well, you know, I want to wait upon God, but I don't know exactly how to do that.
It's really a simple matter. It is simply being quiet, pausing, waiting for God to give direction instruction in some specific area of your life, whatever that area may be that's troubling you at the moment. You're in the process of making a decision, don't know what to do. Then don't just get up and go do something impulsively simply because you don't want to wait or you fear that someone is going to criticize you for waiting. But waiting is directed, purposeful, expectant anticipation of what God is going to do.
What I would like to do primarily in this message is just to deal with two areas. One of them is the rewards of waiting. That is pausing, don't move, don't get involved in something, don't make that decision, don't move forward until we get a very clear sense of guidance from God. The first reward of waiting upon the Lord is this, and that is we will discover God's will and purpose in whatever we are concerned about. When we wait and listen and prayerfully submit ourselves to Him, He will show us what to do. It is when we make decisions without waiting upon Him that we get ourselves in trouble.
Now, we all know these passages of Scripture. For example, in Proverbs 3, He says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not to your own understanding, but in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy path. He is willing to show us, ready to show us, but in His time. So whenever He withholds an answer, whenever He withholds a petition, He has a specific purpose in mind. But He says those who wait for Him, God will give what? His purpose and His will. A second reward of waiting upon the Lord is that we receive the supernatural physical energy and strength that God is willing to give to those who wait.
That is the supernatural physical energy and strength. I want you to turn to one of my favorite passages of Scripture in Isaiah chapter 40. And he says in verse 29, speaking of God, it had just talked about how great He is. He says, verse 29, He gives strength to the weary and to Him who lacks might, He increases power. Though youth grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly.
That is those who physically are strong and it seems they could just keep on going. He says they become weary, they become tired, they stumble badly. Verse 31, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles.
They will run and not get tired. And they will walk and not become weary. That is somehow those who are willing to learn to wait upon the Lord are able to keep on going and keep on going and keep on going when many other people have fallen by the wayside. Not realizing that their energy and their strength is not necessarily always in what they eat, but in who they know and their willingness to wait upon Him. Now, it is our impatience that causes us to shove ahead, push ahead, get ahead of God that gets us worn and weary.
And I can look back in my own life and see how I have been also often so guilty of that. And at one time it cost me three months of my time because I was doing it my way instead of God's way, going to my time instead of God's time. And what I did is not gain but lost a great deal by moving ahead of God. And what he's saying in this passage is, listen, when younger men and women are those who seemingly have a lot more going for them, whatever the age may be, when they have fallen by the wayside, those who learn to wait for the Lord, the Lord's wisdom, the Lord's step, the Lord's countenance upon our face, the Lord's power within our spirit, the Lord's direction for our life, when we're willing to wait upon Him and focus our attention upon Him, there is a supernatural energy, humanly absolutely inexplainable, that takes place in a human life.
He says as the wind is under the wings of the eagle and causes him to soar over all the mountains and the rocks and the streams, so is the Spirit of God beneath the life of those who are willing to wait upon Him and they too will be able to soar above the heartaches and the problems and the troubles of life. One of the rewards of waiting is that supernatural divine energy. There's a third reward for waiting and this is why I think he says again and again here, wait upon the Lord, be strong and of a good courage.
He says wait because he knows that oftentimes we are not going to want to wait. And that is that you and I will win the battles of life if we will learn to wait upon the Lord. Look in Psalm 147 for a moment. Psalm 147, verse 11 says, the Lord favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His loving kindness. And you see if I'm willing to wait upon Him, it means that I do fear Him, I do trust Him and I am willing to be obedient to Him. So waiting upon Him, He says we will have the favor of God. We will have the goodness of God, which means that God is going to be on our side. God is going to be on our team if we are willing to trust Him enough to wait until we get His divine direction and guidance for our life. So one of the reasons that you and I, one of the rewards of waiting is that we're going to win the battles of life. Most of the time we are defeated because we do it our way, our timing instead of God's way. All right? The fourth reward that we have waiting for us when we wait upon Him is that we receive answers to our prayers.
I mean big answers. Turn to Psalm 40. I want to keep us in the Psalms as much as I can here.
In Psalm 40, listen to what he says in this beautiful passage and especially is it meaningful in the Living Bible paraphrase, but in this edition listen to what he says. I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock, making my footsteps firm, and He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see in fear and will trust in the Lord.
Listen to that. I waited patiently for the Lord. He inclined to me and heard my cry, and then here's what He did for me. One of the reasons we do not see more answers to prayer is because we want them on our schedule. The Psalmist David said, I waited upon the Lord. I waited patiently, and waiting patiently, He inclined His ear to me, heard me, and delivered me.
Came to my rescue, met my need. What is it that causes us to stop praying above everything else? Here's the primary reason. When God doesn't answer, our petition, according to when we expect Him to do it, usually we quit. And then we say, well, there must have been something in me, must have been something wrong, blame someone else, or whatever it might be. But you see, God has a reason for our waiting. And oftentimes, some things that you and I pray about are the will of God. He wants to do it. His goodness has already provided it, but there's the timing must be right. Now, why do I emphasize that?
The simple reason. The reason we quit praying is because we think God's not listening or God's forgotten or God, what about it? Let's get with it. God's not late.
And the psalmist said, I waited patiently for the Lord, and He heard me, inclined His ear to me, and He answered my prayer. You see, think about this. If God is on your side and He's on your team, you say, well, how do you know God's on my side?
Well, I'll give you some reasons. Number one, the cross. Number two, He's living on the inside of you. Number three, He's sealed you forever as a child of God. Number four, He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Number five, He says, I'll hear and answer your prayer. Number six, He says, I'll meet all of your needs.
Shall I go on? I mean, He's on your side. He's on your team. He wants you to win in the battles of life. But only as you and I are willing to wait, willing to trust Him, willing to listen to Him, can He do it for the simple reason, if I manipulate circumstances to meet my own schedule, what I do is I frustrate the plan of God. One of the rewards, God's great answers to our prayer. Another reward of waiting upon Him is seeing the fulfillment of our faith. In Isaiah chapter forty-nine, here's a wonderful promise from our Lord. The last part, the last portion of Isaiah forty-nine, verse twenty-three says, Those who hopefully wait for me, listen, those who hopefully wait for me will not be put to shame.
Now, this is a chapter of encouragement, this forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, a chapter of encouragement for them to wait, that they won't be ashamed and they will not be disappointed. When we're willing to trust God, here's what He's saying, you don't have to worry. Trust Me and you don't have to worry. Well, you don't have to worry about what? What He's saying in this passage is simply this. You don't have to worry, if you wait upon Me, of things not working out right.
You don't have to worry about being ashamed or embarrassed. One of the primary reasons that we lunge ahead, don't wait for God's direction, don't wait for His timing is, sometimes other people encourage us and we feel the pressure and so we just go ahead for fear of what somebody's going to say. What He's saying in this passage is so crystal clear. Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be ashamed, they won't be embarrassed. Now, here's what I want you to see. Here's His promise, don't worry about it. That's what He's saying, don't worry about it. Here's what God's saying, just let Me take care of the consequences of your obedience and I promise you, God says, you won't be embarrassed.
I will make it work. I am going to win your battle for you and you don't have to be concerned about that. Well, another one of the rewards of waiting upon the Lord is that we will see God working in our behalf. Now, I want you to turn to Isaiah chapter 64. He says in verse 4, For from of old they have not heard nor perceived by ear, neither has the eye seen of God beside thee, who acts in behalf of the one who waits for him.
What a wonderful promise. He says God is willing to act in our behalf, that is behalf of all of us who wait. That means He is working with our interests at heart. He is working on our team.
He is working in our support. He says if I'm willing to wait and you're willing to wait, God will work things out in our behalf, whatever they may be. Now, when you think about working out something in our behalf, when we are impatient and we step ahead of Him, here's what we do. We get ahead of God, then God, because He acknowledges our right and our will to disobey when we choose to, He lets us do it our way.
Every single time it's a disappointment. Now, think about this. If God is all wise and all powerful, there is no way for me to improve on the ways and the timing of God. Everything in me may want to, but He says, look, I'm working in your behalf.
I don't know about you. If you were in some legal problem and you could afford it, you'd get the finest, most effective, most influential, most successful attorney in town to defend you. My friend, every single moment of our life, we have the greatest mediator, Jesus Christ, working in our behalf. Now, I don't know about you, but if I had to have a choice of somebody working for me, working in my behalf, I'll choose Him.
Omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God willing to say to you and to me, I am going to work in your behalf. Is there any wonder that He said before, I'm going to work in your life in such a way if you'll wait, we'll win the battles. We'll win the battles.
Why? He's working in our behalf. My friend, God will work in your behalf every day moment by moment in those little things that you and I need, in the big things that we need in those gigantic impossible situations. God is just as willing to work in your behalf in those little things, big things, medium-sized things in your life as He is in a ministry, because He loves us all the same. We are all His children. If we practice the principle, we reap the reward.
If we violate the principle, we miss the reward. And so there are rich, rich rewards in learning to wait upon the Lord. Now, four requirements for waiting upon the Lord. Don't miss these.
They're simple. Number one, faith. I must be willing to trust the Lord when I don't know when, nor why, nor how.
If He says wait, I just wait. Secondly, humility. I must come to Him, submissive to Him, recognizing that I have nothing that I can do at this point, but simply wait upon Him. One of the dangerous things about waiting upon God is when we have figured a way out.
We are far safer being absolutely totally helpless than we are being able to have some choice ways to get our way out. Secondly, humility. Thirdly, patience. I am willing to remain calm and quiet in the midst of stress and challenge and battle without complaining and without trying to manipulate my way out.
Patience. Number four, courage. It is the courage to resist three things.
Now jot these down. First of all, it is the courage to resist following my schedule rather than God's. The courage to resist following my schedule and my timing rather than God's. Secondly, the courage to resist the pressure of the attitudes and the opinions of other people who think it is time for me to move. It is the courage to resist the pressure of other people, their attitudes, their opinions, what they think when you know that God has said, wait. And thirdly, the courage to resist the fear of failure. The courage to resist the fear of failure of what will happen if things don't turn out the way I planned. Fear of failure and criticism are oftentimes the catalyst that causes us to move ahead of God and get ourselves in trouble.
Now listen. When do we wait upon the Lord? When is it wise to wait? When I look at all of these passages of Scripture and I go back to Psalm 27 and listen to what he says, he says, wait for the Lord.
Be strong and of a good courage. He says, wait I say upon the Lord. When am I to wait? I am to wait when I am unsure of my way. I am to wait when only God can meet my needs. I am to wait when he commands me simply to wait without any reasoning. Now, let me remind you briefly of the consequences of not waiting.
The consequences of not waiting are very simple. First of all, I get out of God's will. Secondly, I missed God's planned blessings for me. Thirdly, I cause myself pain and heartache and grief. Fourthly, I will cause hurt to other people. Fifthly, more than likely it's either going to cost me financially, opportunities or relationships. And lastly, it's certainly going to bring confusion in my life.
Now think about it. Hear the consequences of not waiting. Hear the wonderful rewards of waiting. It is always wise to wait, profitable to wait, productive to wait because God in his wisdom always knows what is best and because he's good, he's planned his very best for you and me. 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.
