We don’t like waiting

that’s why microwave ovens were invented

fast-food restaurants

But the Christian cannot avoid the truth that when you walk with the Lord, waiting will be involved . . . . nothing you can do about it . . . you have to wait . . .

but many Christians don’t have a big problem with that because they think waiting on the Lord is praying for a house and then the Lord blesses you with a house 8 months later

That’s not what the Bible means by “waiting on the Lord”, that’s God blessing you with what you asked for in a short amount of time

My charge is to teach us about the biblical, “waiting on the Lord” . . . it is a different kind of waiting

way different that waiting in a traffic jam

way different than waiting on that Thanksgiving meal, when the family says we will eat at noon, and you know nothing will be happening until at least 3

way different than waiting in a long line of cars to pick up your child from school

We will learn today what “waiting on the Lord” really is and why the title of the message is “Be of good courage”

Psalm 27:13 NASB95

13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.

This comes from a song about trusting in the Lord: the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear . . . waiting is about trust and faith in the Lord

David is saying in the last verses of this song that there were some times in my past that I have despaired/fainted

David is saying I would have given up . . . I would not have been able to make it . . . I would have “crashed out” as young people say

unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living

but I didn’t give up because I believed that God would eventually turn my situation around (not just in heaven, but on this earth)

I didn’t give up because I believe God could and would come through

(next verse)

Psalm 27:14 NASB95

14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

so therefore, I tell myself when I consider what I am gong through right now . . .

We don’t know why we are waiting

Your wait always has something to do with God’s plans

Most of us have the mindset that we are waiting so that our plans can unfold

but there is a higher purpose . . . a divine purpose behind your wait

Zachariah and Elizabeth wanted a child when they were young but had to wait until they were old because the birth of their child (later known as John the Baptist) had to be timed with the birth of the Savior, Jesus

they probably thought God didn’t hear their prayers or didn’t care

but no, there was a divine purpose as to why God said not yet, not now

your wait is about more than you and your plans

God is not on your team, you are on God’s team

you are not the star of the movie, but supporting character in his movie

you are a chess piece on his board

and just like a chess master has a plan and a strategy behind the move of every piece . . . so does God with us

If God has not moved or moved you . . . he is not ready to move

moving doesn’t fit in his plans right now

He is setting up some things, he is moving other pieces into position

and you must sit still and be of good courage

The wait includes you, but is not about you . . . it is about Him

some time the wait involves preparing us

some times the wait involves preparing others

sometimes the wait involves putting things in place

Again with Zachariah and Elizabeth the had to wait until Marry the future mother of Jesus was born and became of age

they had to wait until Marry got engaged

they had to wait until it was Zachariah’s time to serve in the temple

God was putting things in place . . . so be of good courage

There is a Divine “why” behind our wait - often the thing we want/waiting for matches our desires, but there is a divine purpose that is way more important than our desires, and that is what is causing the wait

Zachariah and Elizabeth wanted a little bundle of joy, someone to carry on the family name, someone to take care of them in their old age

God wanted a messenger who would prepare the way for the Lord Jesus Christ, the SAvior of the world!

so the timing of Zachariah and Elizabeth desired had to take a backseat

God might not reveal the divine “why” behind your wait, but know that there is a “why” . . . you are not waiting in vain

we don’t know what to wait for

if you are waiting on the Lord, you should wait for the thing that is coming from the Lord

Instead, we often grow impatient and grab onto the first thing we see, the first thing that happens, the first thing that looks exciting, the first thing that offers change, the first new possibility . . . and try claim that the wait is over

a lot of people are in bad relationships because that person that they are in a relationship with didn’t come from the Lord . . . they just got tired of waiting

a lot of people are in bad financial deals because that deal did not come from the Lord (super high interest loan) . . . they just got tired of waiting

If you don’t wait on what the Lord is sending, it’s just like being at an airport, your flight has been delayed, and someone offers you a bike ride instead.

and you’re like “yeah, ok . .I guess I can pedal from Texas to California”

but no! you’re supposed to be waiting on a plane!

you can jump on that bike, it will take you somewhere, but it won’t get you to where you need to go

you have to wait on the Lord’s provision, to end up where you need to be, don’t accept substitutes

don’t you try to make it happen, just wait - Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar made things worse

How will I know it comes from the Lord?

When provision comes from the Lord, it doesn’t break the laws of the Lord, it doesn’t go against the character of the Lord, it doesn’t go against the teachings of the Lord, it doesn’t go against the vision or dream that the Lord put in your heart

When that thing comes from THE LORD, you’ll know it

I love the action movies when one of the heroes is about to go into a building or fortress of the evil guy.

and they tell their guys something like, “When you see the signal come charging in!”

his friends say, “How will I know the signal?”

“You’ll know it when you see it”

then five minutes later some giant explosion occurs and the friends say, “I’m pretty sure that’s the signal”

if you are looking for God to move, waiting on God to move . . . when he moves, you will know

Example: In the early years of WMBC, we were having church in my dad’s house (holding on, not giving up, doing the best we could, waiting on the Lord)

a few vacant building opportunities came up . . . and it was tempting, but

some were too expensive

some were too much to fix up

some were far away from the community that God told us to serve

those opportunities were not from the Lord, substitutes

so we remained a church without a church house for almost two years . . . we waited . . and kept serving (Bro. Westbrook had a gas station, we gave away govt. cheese from there)

but then the Lord moved, friends of our church ministry, on their own came to my dad and asked if he would allow them to build a church for us . . . new building, free building, right across the street from where we used to be

yeah . . . the Lord moved

you will know it

Be of good courage because:

There is a divine why behind your wait

so that you don’t fall for the substitutesr

We think waiting doesn’t involve waiting (our time-lines are too short)

most of us think in hours, days, weeks, months, at most a year

but you need to get rid of short term thinking when you walk with God. God is all about the long term

the long haul

the long game

the big picture

that’s why you see words like forever, eternity, eternal, everlasting, generations . . . in the Bible so often

When you wait on the Lord, you have to give him more than a minute

Just a few examples

Abraham had to wait 25 years for the birth of the son God promised him, and he was already old when God gave him the promise

Joseph had to wait about 13 hard years before his dreams came true, and he became second in command of all Egypt (17 to 30)

Moses had to wait 40 years before God met Moses at the burning bush and equipped him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt’s slavery

Jesus had to wait 30 years, even though it seemed that he was ready at 12

there is real waiting involved

So be of good courage

There is a divine why behind your wait

So that you don’t fall for the substitutes

because there is a real wait

so that’s why the verse says “Be strong and let your heart take courage

you are going to have to be strong and brave during this wait

don’t fall apart, don’t spaz out, don’t become a whiner, don’t become a complainer, don’t start doubting, don’t give up, don’t give in

don’t make everyone around you miserable

but be strong and choose to take courage

you wake up on day 100 of waiting, and God still has not spoken or moved

encourage yourself, “it will happen when God is ready”

It will happen when preparations are finished

it will happen when God says so

it will come to pass at the right time

I have not been forgotten

my work has not been in vain

Abraham waited 9,125 days, and I am only on day 100 . . . so I will stay strong

Know that your heart will pick something (despair or courage), so make it pick courage:

so decide to be strong

decided to have good courage

decided to keep a good attitude

make up your mind to be patient while you are waiting on the Lo

commit to facing tribulations and trials bravely

since you know that he is an on time God, act like he is an on time God

when my wife says that she needs to run in the store and will be out in 10 minutes

I know within my heart that she will not be out in 10 minutes (every now and then)

so If I don’t watch my attitude, I’m already mad at 9 minutes . . . because I don’t like waiting

so 45 minute later she returns . . . .

and the whole time she’s in the store, I am breathing hard, eyes rolling, checking my watch constantly and counting every minute past 10 mintues, “10 minutes, really” . . . most miserable time

I waited, but I was not strong, I did not wait with patience

Then one day I settled in my mind, “I know that she will indeed come back out, she will show back up” . . . and my bad attitude is not affecting her, only me

so let me make up my mind to be strong

not get frustrated, take courage and wait patiently

get comfortable in the idea that I might be here a while

that’s a word for you

so I find stuff to do, phone calls to make, check emails, send out WMBC text messages, get on social media, take a short nap

I decided that I would not be miserable, but productive

so when she returns 45 minutes later, and I’m still smiling, baby check out this video!

she got what we needed from the store

I was productive

marriage stays in a good place

because I decided to be strong, and take good courage

and through this word, God gives us a straight head’s up, “I’m going to be a while”

because there is a divine purpose behind this wait

make sure you don’t accept any substitutes while you wait

so you might as well decide to be be strong and get comfortable with the idea of waiting . . . and tell your heart, “we are going to pick courage while we wait”

and the final part of the final verse of Psalms 27 says again . . .

Yes, wait for the Lord

God will come, God will step in, God will speak, God will move, God will help, God will rescue . . . . so wait on him!!!

This psalm begins with, “The Lord is your light and and your salvation” . . . so wait on him

The Lord is the strength of your life . . . so wait on him

he will cause your enemies to stumble and fall

in the time of trouble he will hide you

The Lord will set you upon a rock

The Lord will lift your head above your enemies

The Lord will have mercy on you, deliver you, and answer you

He’ll help you, even if your mother and father forsake you

other scriptures talk about waiting and say that if you wait God will

renew your strength

he will be your help and shield

give you grace and favor

answer your prayers

not let you be ashamed

God has wonderful things, amd awesome things, in store for you, but you can’t take advantage of them if you don’t wait on Him

so don’t give up on God or do anything crazy or take matters into your own hands

don’t commit suicide, don’t break the law, don’t do anything immoral, don’t do anything stupid, don’t settle for substitutes . . . .

be of good courage and wait on the Lord

Give you example of “not waiting” from the Bible in 1 Samuel, chapter 13 to see what it can look like in real time

Saul, the first king of Israel, who hasn’t been ruling very long has an army of 3,000

He is facing an army of 3,000 chariots (6K charioteers, and numerous foot soldiers)

His small army is rightfully afraid, and they are hiding in caves, in the woods, behind rock formations, and in cisterns . . . some have just run away period.

to make matters worse, only Saul and his son Jonathan had real weapons (everyone else is using farm tools: picks, axes, sickles)

But Saul is still willing to stay and fight

He had been commanded by the Lord through Samuel, the prophet of God, to wait for Samuel to come make sacrifices to God before Saul launches any kind of attack

Samuel said I will be there in seven days

So Saul WAITED seven days, but no Samuel

meanwhile, his army of a few thousand is dwindling every day . . .

and Saul sees that soon he will not even have a small army, he will have no army . . . for his army is down from 3,000 to only 600

Saul sees that the Philistines might attack any moment . . . so he says, I will perform the sacrifices myself . . . I can’t wait any longer

1 Samuel 13:10–12 NASB95

10 As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”

Saul said that situation and circumstances were bad, I had to take matters into my own hands, I had to use a substitute

Samuel rebuked him for not following the Lord’s command . . . the command was to wait . . . .. then Samuel said because you did not obey the Lord, the Lord has already picked someone else to take your place as king

and God helped them win that battle with only 600. . . so it turns out that, yeah, he could have waited for Samuel

So Saul won the battle . . . but lost the kingdom . . . he turned out to be a dynasty of 1

Saul was willing to fight with the odds against him

Saul was willing to wait for a period of time, a long period of time considering the circumstances

but Saul did not “wait on the Lord”

waiting on the Lord means

waiting when it seems useless to wait

waiting when it seems that there is no logic in waiting

waiting when time has run out

waiting when all the facts indicate that the lord will NOT step in or show up

wait beyond waiting

so you must be of good courage

God is so gracious that if you don’t wait, you might still win the battle . . . but lose out on a kingdom

Be of good courage!

because God is worth waiting on

long lines at restaurants . . . . because people believe food is worth waiting on

lone lines at sporting events

long line on Black Friday . . . .

Jesus

wait for him to come (long time, thousands of years)

wait for him to preach and minister (30 years)

wait for him to rise again (3 days, but seemed an eternity to them)

wait until the holy spirit came (50 days)

waiting on him to come back (thousands of years)

be of good courage