Waiting on God

As we continue into the second of week of our 21 days of morning, I wanted to speak on what it means to wait on the Lord because so much growing in the spiritual discipline of prayer is dependent on our ability to wait patiently. I’ve sure that we have all realized that prayer is not for the impatient and those who want immediate answers from God will be sorely disappointed. But as we will discover today, God is able to do amazing things in our waiting and our patience will be rewarded.

Passage

Isaiah 25:1–9 ESV

O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the foreigners’ palace is a city no more; it will never be rebuilt. Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. For you have been a stronghold to the poor, a stronghold to the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall, like heat in a dry place. You subdue the noise of the foreigners; as heat by the shade of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is put down. On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

There are three questions that I would like us to engage with this morning:

What is it that we are waiting for?

How do we wait?

What keeps us from waiting patiently?

Unless you are a hardcore introvert, not many people would say that God has done wonderful things in the past two years. It may not even be politically correct to say that all this was a part of God’s plans formed of old, faithful and sure. But for those of us who believe in the sovereignty of God, who believe that everything in human history is under the control of God, we have no other choice but to conclude that all of this is a part of His greater purpose. There is no other way to avoid that very difficult conclusion and we not only have to come to terms with this, we have to somehow get to the point, where we can exalt and praise God for what He has done . And you might be asking yourself, “What is it exactly that God is doing through all these trials and judgements?” The short answer to that question is that He is working out His salvation for those who are willing to wait for Him. We are all waiting for our salvation.

Many Christians limit God’s salvation to just what happens after you die which admittedly is the most important aspect of his saving power but anytime that God delivers you from trouble, heals your from sickness, rescues your from your enemies, or keeps you safe in the midst of his judgment can be considered a part of his saving grace. With that in mind, how many of us have given God heart-felt praise for all that He has done to save us from the worst effects of this world-wide pandemic that’s lasting longer than anyone could have imagined. Whether it’s keeping you and your loved ones safe and healthy until a vaccine could be produced. Or shielding you from economic hardship? Or having enough food and supplies through months of shelter in place? Consider all that God has done and I hope you will agree with me that He is more than worthy of our praise.

The prophet Isaiah ministered during a time of even greater upheaval and instability than what we are currentrly experiencing and yet he was able to focus his attention on the salvation of God. Considering what he writes in just the previous chapter, it’s astounding that Isaiah can give us so much hope for what lies ahead.

Isaiah 24:10–11 ESV

The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter. There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.

Admittedly, it is hard to praise God in the middle of the dark times but if we are only able to live joyfully when things are going well, what difference does a relationship with God make. I believe that one of the main differences between those who have a deep relationship with God versus those whose relationship is non-existent or remains on the surface is the ability to overcome whatever life has to throw your way because you are confident that God has you in the palm of his hands and He will deliver you! This doesn’t mean that you can’t lament and mourn and grieve but it does mean that you cannot stay in that place indefinitely because the God that I know is mighty to save. Whether it be Job or Jeremiah or Isaiah and ultimately Jesus himself, everyone who has walked closely with God understood that although sorrow is an inevitable part of life, that it comes in the evening, in due time joy comes in the moring, and that is as sure as the sun rising in the east. Even Jeremiah who is known as the weeping prophet seemingly has more hope and joy than alot of Christians that I know, including myself.

Jeremiah 31:11–14 (ESV)

For the Lord has ransomed Jacob

and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.

They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,

and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord...

I will turn their mourning into joy;

I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance,

and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,

declares the Lord.”

God’s salvation is simply a by-product of who He is. He is a stronghold for the poor and those in distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. The last two years have been a reminder that everyone needs God to be their refuge, that we are all poor and in distress and that apart from God, no one else can save us. If we come out of this pandemic, less dependent on God, unaware of what he had done for us, we will be poorer for it, becasue we will find ourselves with no one to praise for this amazing work of salvation that has been gifted to us.

As we begin to emerge out of what feels like a two year nightmare, it’s important for us to discover the power of praise which partly answers our second question, “How do we wait on God?” Waiting on God is not passive or a matter of inaction but rather it requires a concerted effort of the soul. And perhaps this is why it is so hard to wait upon the Lord because it requires a soul that is healthy and well.

Isaiah 26:8–9 (ESV)

In the path of your judgments,

O Lord, we wait for you;

your name and remembrance

are the desire of our soul.

My soul yearns for you in the night;

my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.

The late Eugene Peterson helps us to see the connection between prayer and praise, “All prayer, pursued far enough, becomes praise. Any prayer, no matter how desperate its origin, no matter how angry and fearful the experience it traverses, end up in praise. It does not always get there quickly or easily – the trip can take a lifetime – but the end is always praise.” This is why prayer is so instrumental in the how of waiting. Those who cannot pray, will not find joy in their salvation.

Unfortunately most of us don’t have the patience to have our prayers turned into praise. Perhaps, one of the hardest things to wait for in life is God’s answer to our many prayers. If you have been Christian long enough, you have probably heard someone say that God always answer prayer but it just so happens that His answers are yes, no, or wait. And honestly speaking, whenever I hear someone give that answer, I am usually tempted to punch them in the face because even thought it may be theologically true, it is usually said in an unsympathetic and condescending manner. For many of us waiting for God to answer our prayers feels like the normative pattern of life and maybe it’s even a sore spot in your relationship with God.

For some of you, you waited for God to heal the wounds in your heart for years. You’ve waited for God to bring the right person into your life. You have been praying for the right opportunities to open up or you have simply been in a long and difficult season of life and from your perspective there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. And it is precisely in these moments of waiting that things can go quickly go bad in terms of your relationship with God.

In one of the starkest examples in the Scriptures, we read that God takes the kingdom away from Saul becasue of his inability to wait. In the account, Saul was given explicit instructions to wait for the prophet Samuel to offer up a burnt offering to God before going to war against the Philistines. But as he sees his men scattering from him, Saul panics, takes matters into his own hands, and performs the offering himself. This is what we read in 1 Samuel 14:8-9, 13-14.

8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.

13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lordhas commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”[1]

It’s frightening to realize that the sin of impatience can threaten our God-given destiny. When I first read this story, I thought it was bit unfair that God punished Saul so severely for what seems like a minor breach in religious protocol, being impatient and taking matters into his own hands. On the grand scales of injustice, it would seem that failing this would be a minor infraction compared to the greater sins of sexual immorality and murder. But God weighs what is within the heart more than what is seen with the visible eye. In his impatience, Saul revealed his unwillingness to wait for the will of God to be revealed and more disastrously, he revealed that he was more than willing to make his decisions contrary to what was clearly the will of God. King David, in contrast, shows a heart of dependence as he weights out decisions for the nation. Repeatedly throughout his life, he waits for the will of God to be revealed before he moves into action.

And there is something about the waiting process that reveals the genuine state of our relationship with God. Those who are willing to wait show that they have a high degree of confidence in who God is. Some of us in here are worriers, we take any sign of trouble in our lives and we are really good at imagining the worst possible outcome. You have a bad break up and you begin to fear whether or not you will ever find someone. Your child gets a bad grade at school and you worry that he will not make in life. We compound the present trouble and make it worse by thinking about a thousand other troubles that could come as a result. And this reveals the greatest obstacle to patiently waiting on God and that is simply our own fears.

Near the beginning of the book of Isaiah, as the turmoil in the nation of Israel increases, God gives his servant an important word.

Isaiah 8:11–13 ESV

For the Lord spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

During these past two years, how many Christians have succumbed to one conspiracy theory or another. False information comes out from hearts filled with fear and it beckons us to act out contrary to God’s will and his timing. To one extent or another, we all have succumbed to our fears to one degree or another and it’s time to put that behind us place our trust in the Lord. In order to successfully wait on the Lord, you have to overcome your fears by placing your trust in the Lord. (If you think about it, whatever you fear has absolute control over you and by placing on our fears onto the Lord, we are acknowledging that we are trusting him to have ultimate control over our lives.)

The only thing that Jerry Bridges describes the great difficulty in learning how to truly trust in God.

He writes about the passing of his own mother suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 14. Rushing into the room, he saw her take the last breath of life and then she was gone. His brother was away to college and his father too grief-stricken to be of any real help in dealing with his own emotions and sense of loss. He was alone as any 14 old year could be in this world. It is from the crucible of pain in his own life that Bridges writes one of the more insightful statement on the real challenge of learning to trust in God.

“The circumstances in which we must trust God often appear irrational and inexplicable. The circumstances of our lives appear to be dreadful and grim or perhaps even calamitous and tragic. Obeying God is worked out within well-defined boundaries of God’s revealed will. Trusting in God is worked out in an arena that has no boundaries. We do not know the extent, the duration, or the frequency of the painful, adverse circumstances in which we must frequently trust God. We are always coping with the unknown.”

In reading Bridges thoughts on trust, it dawned on me that faith and obedience are elementary levels of Christianity whereas trusting in God propels us into the real world of pain and suffering and serves to deepen our relationship with God. It is so to speak, the graduate level of faith. Learning how to trust in God is enough to drive anyone mad but once that relationship of trust is formed with God, it becomes an unshakeable pillar that can carry you through all of life’s difficulties. As Hebrews 12:27 reminds us, God shakes the heavens and the earth in order that the things that cannot be shaken remain.

But it is not just the uncontrollable circumstances of life that threaten our trust of God, the more common variable, the one that is far more prevalent is our conflicts with people around us. By far the greatest threat to trusting in God is our fear of man, our fear of one another. Proverbs 29:25 reminds us of this connection between the two and we read:

“The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.”

Of the many things that the Scriptures warn us about, one of the major themes that come up over and over again is the dangers of fearing man over and against trusting in God. It is one of those problems in life that the vast majority of humanity has to deal with, and not just the introverts among us. And although our sense of danger may not be as clear or as imminent as what David is going through, but to one degree or another most of us have some fear of man that controls our lives and produces irrational behavior. And all you have to do is ask yourself a few questions that can help you assess the areas where the fear of man is having a negative impact in your life.

1. Are you over-committed? Do you have a hard time saying no when wisdom tells you that you should say no?

2. Do you find yourself second-guessing your decisions because of what others might think?

3. Do you easily get embarrassed?

4. Do you tell little lies or over exaggerate details of your life to get a favorable response?

5. Do you allow the words of people to make or break your day?

6. Are you afraid to stand up for what you believe because of the threat of persecution?

7. Are you unwilling to confront a friend who is deeply in sin because you fear damaging the relationship?

There are actually many good reasons to fear man but one thing that man cannot do is he cannot destroy your soul. In fact, there is nothing in this world, no calamity, no circumstance, no disease that can touch your soul because that is under the control of God. The eternal perspective is important for many reasons in terms of life after death but it is indispensable for courageous living in the present.

Matthew 10:28–31 ESV

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

The psychologist Harriet Lerner, makes this observation about the current sate of our nation. “When anxiety is chronically high it leads to more serious outcomes such as greed, scapegoating, violence, and other forms of cruelty. In these anxious times, on both the personal and political fronts, ideas are embraced and decisions are made not on the basis of clear thinking that considers both history and the future, but rather on the basis of hearts filled with fear.”

For all of these fears, the world cannot provide a solution but the Gospel of Christ answers each of these fears with the promise of God’s salvation. General human tendency is to try to save ourselves, to find our own meaning and purpose to life, to absolve ourselves of guilt, and to surround ourselves with meaningless distractions so that we can avoid facing our fears. Common sense tells us that escaping these fears is an impossible task. To try to overcome these fears on your own is to invite even more anxiety into your life. This is where you have to trust in the Lord and pray that God will come and save you. And where you need to humble yourself to the point of utter dependence on God to deliver you. Until God rids you of your self-sufficiency, His salvation cannot have it’s full impact on your life.

Conclusion

The only way we can learn how to trust in God is through honest prayers before God where you openly acknowledge and confess your fears and through consistent times of worship that leave room for God’s Spirit to come and minister to you.

During times of trouble, we are not privy to know how long or how bad things will get and the only thing that you can hold onto is the confidence that you have in God. Now where does this unwavering confidence come from and how can we develop it? The answer is through communion with God. Confidence in God is a byproduct of deep times of worship, prayer, and intimate encounter with the presence of God. You recognize at the very beginning of this Psalm that there is a deeply personal relationship that David has with God. So God is not simply a source of light. David claims God as “my rock and my salvation”. God is not just a giver of salvation. For David, God is “my salvation.” Unless you take possession of God as your very own, you cannot have any real level of confidence in him. If he remains aloof and impersonal, you will put your confidence in everything else but him. You ultimately put your confidence in things that you believe belong to you. Your relationships, your money, your own potential, your success these things will become the ultimate bedrock of your life. But what happens when these foundations are shaken and your realize these things are not yours. What will be the source of your confidence then? The only thing that you can stake your life on is the fact that “you belong to God, and He belongs to you.” Coming to the Lord’s table is a reminder of that intimate relationship that we share with Christ.