Waiting Patiently on God

Scripture: Ps. 40: 1-3

This passage teaches us how to wait on God patiently!

· To be truthful about it, sometimes waiting is not an easy thing to do

· There was a time when you needed information you would have to wait on it to be sent to you

· Now, we can just get on the internet, or have them an email, or fax the needed information

· Before, there were Pillsbury biscuits; you would have to make them from scratch

· Before there was Rent to own, or Rent – A -Center’s, you saved up for it till you had the cash, wasn’t any payday loans or title loans.

However, there are some benefits of learning how to wait on somethings

· We all have something that we are patiently waiting on

· We may have an issue that we need God to move on, and he hasn't moved just yet, but we have to learn how to wait patiently.

· Deep down inside, you wonder why this happened, or why is my family all jacked up, why are things not going in my direction, and why is God not responding?

· But there are some benefits of patiently waiting on God

o If we have the right attitude

o With the right spirit, we can learn a few things while patiently waiting for God.

The psalmist in this text tells us and shows us the benefits are waiting on God, we don't know when this happened in the psalmist life, but he testifies in verse 1 he says:

· I waited patiently for the LORD.

· He waited patiently on the Lord; sometimes, we are waiting on people and the wrong things.

· We have to put our focus not on Capitol Hill

o People right now are waiting on the stimulus check – and most people will have it spent in less than three days.

· We can’t put our hope on our husbands or wives, or bank accounts, or even our place of employment.

· We have to wait patiently on the Lord! Jehovah Jireh, the God that provides!

The word wait patiently means to:

· Stay in place

· Standstill

· Remain

· To hope in a place of hopefulness and expectations

· In other words, it means that I am always in a position that I'm waiting on God and expecting him to do something

· But while I am looking, I will stay connected with God; I am still walking with God

o I am still believing God

o I'm still praying to God

o I'm still walking with God even though he hasn't answered just yet

o In sometimes, we begin to lose faith and trust in God because God hasn't answered us just yet, and we falter, and we fail because we are not patiently waiting on God

· I am looking, I am hoping, I am waiting patiently for God to do something

· Because if we try to fix it ourselves, we mess things up. God does not need our help

· Because when God is actually working on a situation, God is actually working on us

o He's fixing us

o He's building character within us

o Shaping us

o He is developing us

o What I've learned is God doesn't show up within the time frame that I want him to or wanted him to, but when he shows up, He's always on time

o Have you ever needed God to show up, and when He did, it was right on time!

o Sometimes we have to wait till we have nothing for God to show up so we would realize that we need Him in the midst of our situation in order for it to work out!

· Patiently waiting means that I am hopeful that I am trusting in God that I am going to patiently wait on God and believe in God even if he doesn't show up when I want Him to

o And I've been into some situations where I was tired of waiting on God

o I was about to give somebody a piece of my mind

o I was about to lose my mind

o I'm about to do something that later on how may regret

The answer is in the text, he says: I waited patiently for the LORD,

he inclined to me and heard my cry.

The First Reason we should wait is:

· God will incline and hear my cry

· What he's saying is that God is making so serious moves while we feel like He is not responding.

· That Gods going to bend over and incline to hear his cry

· What the writer is saying thank God did something wonderful for him. After a long period of prayer, patiently waiting on God, he has hope.

· God is saying that even though we are in a messed-up state, that no matter how sinful nature is, that he will bend over and inclined to hear whatever our situation is in our life

· And if the truth be told, I have been in situations where I knew I was so messed up that God would not hear my cry

But David reminds us here that God will turn aside, He’ll come and see about and inclined His ear… that he will stretch and come see about our situations. In our view, God is turning aside, but the God we serve is a multi-tasking God that He is able to hear your situation to hear your situation to hear your situation, and hear my situation all at the same time.

· He doesn't have to put anything on hold to come to see about you because he could fix everybody's situation while he is working on my situation.

· David said that God inclined his ear… He's turning aside to see about my situation –

o I like that, and he will hear

o He will listen

o He will perceive

o He will pay attention to

o He's going to hear me now

o Here's where the problem occurs because we tend to tune God out

o You have shut the door on God from being able to hear you even though he has the capacity because our attitude isn’t right

David said he waited patiently on God

· And when we respond in a negative way, we shut God off from hearing our cry

o I was on the plane flying back from Arizona, and it was this little child in the back of the plane throwing a tantrum; she was going off so bad that I can hear Mama trying and negotiate with her; finally, the plane got up to the cruising level, and a seat belt sign went off, and the mother unfastens the little girl’s seatbelt, and the next thing I see is this little girl running down the aisle of the plane she ran to the front of the plane, and the momma was coming behind her saying stop, stop, come here if you come here I got some candy. She is negotiating with his little child. All the time, I'm thinking in my mind it ain't the child's fault; it's your fault.

o And sometimes we get just like that little girl; we get mad at God

o We through a fit

o Because God hasn’t answered our cry

· But here's what captures the heart of God when a person says, I don't mind waiting; I’ll patiently wait because I know in due time He will step in and answer my prayer.

The second reason we should wait patiently is: God will bring you up to set you up!

· Vs.2 says: He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.

· Point two: God will bring you up to set you up… He brought me up out of a horrible pit. A bad place, down in something that you cannot get out by yourself.

· David says he brought me up out of it, I didn't climb out of it, I didn't bring myself up by my own bootstraps, I didn’t do it on my own, but God Himself reached down and brought me up!

o By his power

o By his might

o He brought me out of a horrible situation

o Out of the miry clay, a sticky situation it’s holding us back, but God will reach down and pull us out and set our feet on a rock.

· God is saying that he's gonna put us in a place he's going to bring us out of that miry pit and put us in a place that we can live the life that he has ordained for us to live

o When I think of the goodness of God and all that he has done for me, my soul cries out Hallelujah

o He cleansed me

o He redeemed me

o He saved me

o He brought me up!

o He sat my feet on a rock

Point #3: He will give you a new song to sing

Vs.3 says: He has put a new song in my mouth— Praise to our God; many will see it and fear and will trust in the LORD.

· People are watching you to see how you handle your dilemma

· But when we patiently wait, we don’t know how, we don’t know when, but we know that God at any moment is going to step in and handle our situation.

Galatians 6:9: And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

· God will set you up. He will put a new song in your mouth, and the people who doubted you before now will know how you made it.

· They will say if God did it for them, maybe God will do it for me

Closing

Isaiah 40:29-31says: He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might, He increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.