"In Psalm 130 verse 5 (NKJV) we find these words, I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in His Word I do hope."
Time belongs to God. He has spoken His Word over time and every life and everything created has been given its days by God. In these times as we look to the return of the Lord Jesus, we need to learn to wait upon God, that we might, as believers, be led by His Spirit. My biggest problem, as a young man, is that I am impulsive by nature. I want to tell you that God can never use an impulsive person to do His work effectively.
I have always had a special place in my heart for Peter, the big fisherman, impulsive and too quick to say things and to do things, to step out of the boat, to cut off the ear of the High Priest's servant and to leave the fishing boats to run to Jesus on the shore of Galilee. Peter always meant so well but he seemed to cause havoc wherever he went. Then he denied the Lord, not once but three times and looking up he met the Mater's eyes and remembered the words He had spoken. Heartbroken, he left to go back fishing, yet when the Risen Lord had restored him, he became a changed man, humble and without fear and the one man who knew that without the Lord, he was nothing. With total dependence on God, he oversaw the church in Jerusalem till he was crucified himself.
We need to remember, as Christians the words our Lord spoke to Peter. Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. In times of counselling I find a lot of people want to know why nothing is going right in their lives and is God punishing them? As we talk together and look at the circumstances that surround them, there seems often to be one common factor in all their different unhappy situations. It is that in seeking guidance or making decisions, they might have even prayed and asked God, but they did not wait for His answer. They saw a need or an opening and were impulsive and went ahead of God, and now find themselves in a difficult place.
I have, personally, met many missionaries who have returned from the mission field, disillusioned and confused and heart sore, looking for some sort of employment. You see, in Matthew 9vs38 (NKJV) the Bible says "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest." Many of us are inclined to see a need and we make plans to meet that need. The Bible says also, first pray to the Lord. It's His harvest fields that we desire to work in to harvest the lost souls for His Kingdom, but unless we have the Lord's permission and His blessing, we find ourselves trespassing in places we've not been send by God. The result is, things do not go as well as we though they would, and we become despondent and unhappy.
Sometimes we are wanting to go into business and we do not quite have the finances needed, so we decide to short circuit everything and go into partnership with a non-believer because he happens to have the capital. That would be one of the worst things we could ever do, as believers, because it is directly against God's Word. He says we are not to be unevenly yoked. In the old days on the farms, when oxen were yoked to pull the plough, two unevenly yoked animals would pull in different directions. That does not make for a good business venture. We need to ask God but then wait till we have His word even though we find that difficult because everyone wants answers now, or latest, tomorrow. I want to tell you, right now, that God never contradicts His written Word and so He would never give His consent to a business partnership between a believer and a non-believer.
Over the years I have also spent time with young guys who are looking for a godly wife and my advice to them is always not to become impatient but wait. God has a young woman chosen especially by Himself for each young believing man. In the Book of Samuel, we find the account of Saul, the first King of Israel, anointed by the prophet, Samuel in obedience to God's Word. In a place called Gilgal, Saul was to wait for Samuel, the prophet, to come and after seven days had passed and the prophet had not yet come and the soldiers were starting to become restless and move out, Saul made an impulsive decision to offer the sacrifice himself. Just as he had finished the offering, Samuel arrived sadly this act of disobedience to the Lord God's commands cost Saul his kingship. We read the words of the prophet in 1 Samuel 13vs14 (NKJV) "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart."
Waiting on God is so important in our lives as believers, especially in the times we live in. We need to be faithfully doing the will of God, and we will obey His Word. When God gives us the green light, let's work with all our heart for his glory.
