Armorbearers International

Are you waiting in the wings of life on the promises of God to come to past? Don't worry; you're not alone. We all have to wait on the Lord for a season at one time or another. What do you do in the process? You know while you're waiting, what do you do?

This can especially be difficult for movers and doers in the Kingdom. All the type A personalities, servers and helpers feel like they have to do something all the time. I believe Martha (Jesus' friend) was in that category. Here are some things, over the years I've learned to do more and more while waiting:

Thank the Lord. Cultivate gratefulness; for you know He's faithful to do what He's promised. Thankfulness will keep your heart open and ready to receive when your promise finally does arrive. Whether you are waiting for the wife or husband of your dreams to appear in your life or a sack of groceries for dinner this week, God will fulfill.

Look for the learning opportunities. Years ago, my niece was baby-sitting our 5 year old at the time. She told him to come and sit down. He said no; I don't want to sit down. Her response was, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way, you're going to obey." Aren't we just like that with God? Usually our waiting season is filled with teachable moments. We can wait the easy way, trusting and learning. Or we can do it the hard way, kicking and mumbling against the season the whole time. I'm learning more and more to embrace the season and look for my learning opportunities.

Grow in self control. While we are waiting, we have to exercise patience. The more we exercise patience, we grow in self control. I've discovered our disobedience and rebellion are sometimes birthed out of impatience. Impatience with what, you might ask. When the wait is long; we get impatient with the plan of God. When we have to wait, it puts the squeeze on our character. What comes out depends on our maturity and how much we've grown in self-control. So, during your season get control of yourself, exercise some patience and wait. Your promise is on the way.

Don't give up. This one is easier said than done. At least for me it has been. Early in my Christian walk, I was respectfully complaining to the Lord, "Most people I pray for get their prayers answered and I rarely see any of mine answered." I prayed, believed and waited for God to answer. I thought he was going to say something like, "Whine, whine is all I hear out of you. At least you woke up this morning…"

But He didn’t; he responded graciously to me with a mini vision. "I was sitting high up and looked down and saw myself praying from a list. Yes, it was a long list. But my answer was in the one thing that stood out in the vision. I would pray with focus and fervency for one thing on my list.

From where I was sitting in the vision, I could see whatever I was praying for coming with speed. One thing I was praying for back then was a car. My car had stopped working and I needed transportation. I saw the car coming toward me fast as I prayed.

Then I would stop praying; lose focus and move on to the next thing. I saw myself do this three different times. Each time I saw whatever I was praying for would be (at the door, within my grasp, right around the corner) but as soon as I stopped and lost focus it would turn around and leave faster than I saw it coming. Then I woke up.

I immediately knew the simple truth the Lord was communicating to me. Perhaps you recognized it too. I gave up too soon. Like the car I was praying for: I saw the car coming toward me as I prayed. It was almost there but I lost patience and gave up believing. 

So, my point is: I learned to focus on 1-3 things in prayer and don't give up until I see it. I'm not saying I have received everything I've asked for over the years since then. But I can say every prayer has been answered. And so will yours if you pray in faith according to God's word and wait in faith and patience until it comes.

I hope these simple principles encourage you to see whenever it's God we're waiting on, it's well worth the wait.  See you next week.

Helping leaders and supporters in the local church,
Earma