Have you been following the rail transit debate in the news?  No matter which side of the issue you are on, I think we all agree that Honolulu does have a traffic problem.  According to one study, we spend 20 hours a year waiting in traffic...so we know what waiting is and it is not easy.  As bad as our traffic is, in other places it's much worse:  the average traffic wait is 42 hours in Louisville and 51 hours in Texas! Waiting is not fun.

Frustration often occurs when our expectations are not met.  For example, we get upset when the freeway is not very "free", Jiffy Lube does not get it done in a “jiffy”, or when someone with 12 items at the grocery store gets into the "10 and Under" Express Check-out Lane.  We cannot always control the factors that cause our wait…for example, as guys, we know that no matter what we do, a woman will always make us wait for her!  But other times, we can control whether to wait or not…for example, with certain decisions about our relationships, marriages and finances.  When we pray for things, sometimes the Lord's answer is yes, sometimes it is no, and sometimes, it is to "wait".

Sometimes the Lord just wants us to wait for His timing, but we often jump in before we are ready for the Lord’s plan…then we find ourselves in deep trouble.  The Bible says we should always wait on the Lord but our pain sometimes causes us to be impatient and want a quick fix that could make matters worse.  The Bible offers King David as an example of someone whom was able to resist the dangerous temptation to take the quick fix.

David was a shepherd boy that became more popular than King Saul when he slay the giant Goliath.  Eventually, Saul became insanely jealous of David and tried to hunt him down to kill him.  To protect themselves, David and his followers hid in caves, out-of-sight.  One day, Saul unknowingly entered the cave in which David and his followers were hiding and Saul became an easy target for David.  Given Saul's intent to kill David, David’s men urged him to kill Saul but David did not. Instead, David trusted in the Lord and waited on Him.  Instead, David responded as follows:

“And it came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him … So he said to his men, ‘Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing …to stretch out my hand against … the Lord’s anointed.’  And David persuaded his men … and did not allow them to rise up against Saul.”  (1 Sam. 24:5-7)

As with David, sometimes the world is going to tell you to "go for it":  to get that job you always wanted, to take advantage of this sale opportunity, or to go on that trip you deserve.  But, your heart’s inner voice may be telling you, "No, it's not right."  That may be God telling you to wait, but in order to know, we need to have hearts like David -- hearts like God's own heart.

David stayed with God’s will, not his own.  With God’s will, timing is everything and God’s timing is perfect.  So how can we be like David?  Here are three principles to guide us:

1.     WAITING REVEALS THE SUBJECT OF YOUR TRUE DEVOTION.

Waiting reveals whether we are devoted to the Lord or ourselves.  Our patience or lack of patience shows whether we are willing to wait on God’s will or we will choose our own immediate gratification.

As Christians, we all know the Bible commands us to love God with all our hearts.  It may be easy to say but do we live out our faith and fully trust the Lord by our deeds?  David really demonstrated his trust in the Lord when he refused a second chance to kill Saul when he found Saul sleeping defenselessly.  David’s friend urged him to kill Saul because the timing seemed perfect, “But David said … ‘Do not destroy him, for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed and be without guilt?’”  (1 Sam. 26:9)

So how do you develop such an unconditional trust in the Lord such as David’s?  You must…

·        CALIBRATE YOUR HEART WELL IN ADVANCE TO BE CONTENT.

We can only trust God if we are content with our relationship with Him.  If we are not content with Him, we will not trust Him and will look for other sources of contentment.  This will sometimes cause us to make decisions and act before the Lord or we are ready.  If we do not trust our relationship with the Lord then it could affect our marriage as we look to extramarital relationships for fulfillment.  Though our jobs can be fulfilling, it is only temporary without contentment in the Lord because true fulfillment does not come from circumstances.  Eternal fulfillment comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ.  So instead of spending too much time trying to change our circumstances to bring contentment, we must spend time developing trust and contentment in our relationship with God.

“He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.  The Lord favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His loving kindness.”  (Ps. 147:10-11)

In other words, the Lord does not take pleasure in people who take things on on their own; rather, God favors those who trust in Him.

Last year, I really did not want to go on the New Hope trip to China but agreed to go reluctantly after much coaxing…so I dragged my wife Joy with me.  We trusted the Lord and had the best time there.  We fell in love with China and the people.  This year, we had wanted to go back to China with the mission team but as hard as we tried, we could not get enough vacation time for Joy…so I suggested she call in sick.  She refused, saying that it was not the Christian thing to do.  It was then that I realized I was trying to get Joy to join me, not for the Lord but because it was what I wanted – it was my will, not the Lord’s.

Both David and Joy had good and true consciences and an unconditional trust in the Lord.  Sometimes when we are frustrated by not getting what we want, that little demon of manipulation takes control over our heart.  When the manipulation demon enters, he chases trust in the Lord out the door.  Knowing that, we must also remember that…

2.     WAITING TIME IS VALUABLE TIME.

We all see what we want to see.  Waiting is not bad if we see it as valuable.  Joy was looking for a Godly man and that's what she sees in me, rather than a middle-aged man with “love handles."  We see things and people the way we want to see them.  It is all in how you look at things:  your perspective.  Waiting can be seen as a series of roadblocks or as valuable lesson time.

Those that take advantage of seasons of wait to learn Godly lessons are favored by Him.  As the Bible says, “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.”  (Is. 64:4)

The Lord favors those who wait on Him because the waiting time is preparation time for us to become more Godly.  Therefore…

·        CHOOSE TO APPRECIATE THE LESSONS TO BE LEARNED. 

God is willing to bless your life but you must be willing to be under His authority in order to receive it.  You must prepare and position yourself like a wide receiver in order to catch the pass from your quarterback.  You will be rewarded as much as you have prepared yourself.  As the Bible says, “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.  For I have kept the ways of the Lord …"  (2 Sam.  22:21-22)

Waiting is valuable time to learn the pass routes and the plays so that you can score more points!  When we are waiting, we should ask how we are preparing our hearts and ourselves.  Our blessings are not limited by the size of our God.  Our blessings are limited by the quality of our Christian hearts.

Joy’s and my heart were challenged when her dad became paralyzed.  We visited him everyday and took care of him.  We did not know that the Lord was preparing us by training us in sacrifice and patience but when we were ready, He called us to ministry and here we are today.  As we go through seasons of waiting, we must always ask what God wants us to learn as we wait.  So remember:

3.     HOW YOU CHOOSE TO WAIT WILL EITHER NULLIFY OR BRING CREDIBILITY TO THE GOSPEL.

We Christians must realize that others will always be watching us.  If we sit around and complain about waiting, Christians will be seen as complainers.  If we take the time to prepare, we will be better people and Christians.  What we do while we wait will reflect not only on us personally but on God and Christianity as a whole.

The Bible says that your faithfulness will be rewarded, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he … heard my cry.  He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm … Many will see and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”  (Ps. 40:1-3)

But while you wait…

·        FAITHFULLY FOLLOW HIS COMMANDS. 

Though the Bible says to be still, it does not mean to do nothing.  What it means is to get in tune with the Lord and to not clutter your mind with junk…but to focus on Him.  “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness … Wait for the Lord, and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land … “  (Ps. 37:3,34).   These are all action verbs.  Waiting for the Lord means doing things to prepare yourself for Him.  We must do what God asks while we wait or we may miss His blessings.

We must do what God wants even when it hurts because we must trust in Him just as one of our New Hope brothers did when he was very short of cash but continued to tithe in faithfulness.   In doing so, he knew he did not even have enough money for groceries that week but he trusted in the Lord that no one could outgive God.  Later that day, his wife called and told him that a complete stranger had given her $100 so now they had the money they needed to make it through the week!  This brother trusted God fully and was rewarded for his faithfulness.

So why wait?  We must wait on the Lord because waiting reveals whether we are truly devoted to God.  To foster that devotion we must calibrate our hearts well in advance in order to be content in our relationship with Him.  Waiting is valuable learning time and we should appreciate the Godly lessons learned.  How we wait reflects on our Christianity to others; we will either nullify or bring credibility to the Gospel based on our acts.  Faithfully follow His commands and trust in His plan and timing, not our own.

Study Questions

1.      How do we know when God wants us to wait?

2.      What happened when you did not wait for God’s timing?

3.      What happened when you did wait for God’s timing?

4.      What did you learn when you waited?

5.      What could you do while you are waiting now?  

Thanks to our faithful volunteer writer Leighton Loo who chooses to use some of his waiting time to do God's will in the Sermon Notes ministry.