Learning to Wait upon the Lord
As we might well expect, with all of the exciting things we’ve seen the Lord doing in our midst lately, the devil just has to come along and see how much doubt and discouragement he can sow into our hearts, minds and spirits! But he does not have that power in our lives UNLESS WE GIVE IT TO HIM! That means that we need to DEAL with him and send him packing! And that’s exactly what we’re going to do in FAM Chat tonight, because when we wait upon the Lord, we won’t get tired or stumble and we won’t get discouraged and entertain thoughts of throwing in the towel!
Now, THAT is what God says, so just who are we to say or think otherwise! God also tells us that HIS grace is sufficient and that HIS power is MADE PERFECT in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9 AND that we CAN DO ALL THINGS through Christ Jesus who STRENGTHENS us (Philippians 4:13)! So EVERY time we say or think anything contrary to what we know God said, we are in effect calling Him a liar! Well, I for one am not willing to call God a liar and I sure do hope no one else would either, especially since Numbers 23:19 declares that God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
But the ONLY way to truly wait upon the Lord is to find a place of resting and abiding in Him, and it is ONLY through knowledge and understanding of His Word that we can ever find that place. That’s exactly why Romans 10:17 says Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. So when we display such a lack of faith in God, we also display our lack of knowledge and understanding of WHO He is and it’s not possible to be in the Word as we should be and NOT know God. And once we KNOW Him, there’s just NO way we would ever truly struggle with trusting and obeying Him! But we get into trouble when we try to do anything APART from the wisdom and power of God’s Word; because just as Jesus told us, apart from HIM, we can do nothing (John 15:4-5)! And the best way to find that awesome place of resting and abiding in the Lord is to DO what Jesus instructed us to do in Matthew 11:29-30, where He said Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” What a powerful message; if only we would learn from Jesus and live as He did with gentle and humble hearts! Our souls would surely find rest, and we would know that HIS yoke is easy and HIS burden light, because God would give us grace and lift us up in due time; just as He promised in 1 Peter 5:5-6, which says Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
So we all have to make a choice; will we continue to rely on our own way and wisdom (pride, which God OPPOSES) and struggle only to get the world’s results, or will we learn from Jesus (being gentle and humble) and wait upon the Lord with ABSOLUTE confidence that HE will lift us up IN DUE TIME? And when we CHOOSE to wait upon the Lord, WE WILL BE BLESSED AND ENCOURAGED BEYOND BELIEF!
If you need more encouragement in this area, Beth Moore’s book Believing God is excellent. Here is just a very small excerpt: “Let this truth be written in permanent marker on the wallpaper of your mind: God exerts an incomparable power in the lives of those who continue believing Him. Hear it again: Nothing on earth compares to the strength God is willing to interject into the lives caught in the act of believing. Can you think of any need you might have that would require more strength than God exercised to raise the dead? Me either. God can raise marriages from the dead….You don’t have the need that exceeds His power. Faith is God’s favorite invitation to R.S.V.P. with proof.