Sunday Sermons
Waiting on The Lord
Waiting on the Lord
The above intriguing expression is found a number of times in Scripture:
- “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage” (Psalm 27:14).
- “Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7).
- “Wait for the Lord, and keep His way” (Psalm 37:34).
- “I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope” (Psalm 130:5).
- “The Lord favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His lovingkindness” (Psalm 147:11)
- “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; ‘Wait for the Lord, and He will save You’” (Proverbs 20:22).
- “Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:31).
Sit Back and Let God Do Everything?
As I read the above passages and others with the same expression, it is clear that the “waiting” under consideration is not a “sit back and do nothing” type of waiting. In the above verses we find waiting connected with hoping, respecting God, continuing to obey Him, refraining from opting for sinful solutions to our situation and remaining strong and exercising courage. There are equally many passages that encourage us to remain busy and active:
- “Be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
- “Let our people also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful” (Titus 3:14).
“Where is God?”
When tragic events such as 9/11 happened years ago in this country, there are always going to be certain people who complain, “Where was God when that happened?” Well, the answer to that question is not mysterious. “God is where you or we put Him”. Just like a set of car keys or a cell phone those things are always where we last put them. Romans 1:28 describes a situation in which people had put God out of their thoughts, they had fired Him and given Him the pink slip. So if we find ourselves complaining about “where is God in my life?”—I need to think back to where I last put Him. Did I tell Him, like a cleaning lady, “Oh, I only need you once a week”? “Did I put Him in last place?” “Did I bury Him under all sorts of other matters that seemed so pressing and important at the time?”
“Waiting for a Miracle?”
When it comes to various problems, it is tempting to sit back and hope that God will bring some type of instant, miraculous fix. If we are in struggling financially, it is very tempting to hope that somehow a pot of money will instantly show up, whether in the form of something like the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes or someone who was very generous to us in their will. Many aged Christians could testify that at one time or another in their life they hoped for such miracles—and they never showed up. Why? Because it would not have solved anything. Such a instant fix never fixes us. After a while, we simply end up the in same circumstances all over again. God does not bring the miracle because that is not the real problem. We learn much better and grow when we must slowly and often painfully work ourselves out of a hole that we have had played a role in digging. Yet if we have to slowly climb out—then often we will never dig that hole again.
“God Do Something”
Sometimes when we are frustrated, it is tempting to cry out to God and complain and almost command Him get busy and act. How sad that we so easily forget that God has acted and in a big way (Romans 8:31-32). May I suggest that in many situations, the real issue is not so much waiting on the Lord—but that God is waiting on us, to either correct our ways, get really serious, or start practicing His clear instructions. For God has already given us the solution in so many cases (Micah 6:6-8).
“God…Tell Me What To Do!”
First of all, I believe that we need to be careful about murmuring that “we don’t know what to do”, for the Bible claims that we have been given “all the truth” (John 16:13), and that the Scriptures equip us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Matthew 7:12). Secondly, if we are serious about really wanting to know what to do, we need to get out a piece of paper and a pencil, when we pray that prayer, “God, tell me what to do”. No, the answer is not going to come by inspiration, but rather the piece of paper is to test our honesty about wanting to know what to do. It is easy to convince ourselves that the reason we are not moving ahead is because we just don’t know what do to do---rather than we know what to do and are refusing to do it. If you are struggling financially, one of the first things on your piece of paper will be, “stop spending money on things we don’t need”, and, “sell the things we have that we don’t need”. This is not earthshaking, but it is useful, practical, and it will work. If we are having rough spots in our marriage, some of the answers will be things like, “I need to say kind things”, “I need to be encouraging”, “I need to have a good attitude”, “I need to treat them with respect”, “I need to love them like Jesus loved me”. If we want help in teaching the lost, an answer on the piece of paper will be, “Talk to people about the gospel”, “Know your Bible”, “Have a ready answer”, and “have a love for the lost”.
“But I am Doing All the Work”
At this point in the lesson, often part of us wants to object and push back. What if nobody else gets involved? What if that other mate does not do their part, then we are stuck doing everything! May I suggest that we read the following passage:
“But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down to eat?’ But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk; and afterward you will eat and drink? He does not thank the slave because he did these things which were commanded does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say, ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’” (Luke 17:7-10).
I find this a very humbling and convicting set of passages. It reminds me as a husband that when I support my wife, help raise my children, and do all the things a good father should do, that I have not done any “extra work” or “extra credit”, and neither am I doing everyone else’s job. I simply did what I should have been doing all along. So truthfully, we have never done even close to “everything” or “all the work” (Colossians 1:16).
“The Answer is Not Found in Can’t”
- “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11).
- “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
- “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23).
We may not like to hear it, but saying “can’t” over and over again, really means that we want to remain in our problem and we are content to be there. Sitting around and complaining as a habit means that we prefer to sit around and complain, rather than getting up and resolving the problem. Faithful Christians are spoken of as those who “overcome” (Revelation 12:11). We overcome because we are confident in God’s plan of action, confident in His promises, and that we really believe that with Him we can continue to grow, improve, and move forward.
Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net
