Things to do While You Wait

IT’S NOT every time we pray for a thing that we get it quickly. Some things take time to come, so we wait.

Waiting

SAMUEL took a while to come when Hannah prayed for a son. But at the same time, God wanted another prophet for his people.

So when Hannah made a vow to give her son to God, she prayed in accordance with God’s Will. Hannah knew God wanted her to pray as she she waited. (1 Samuel 1:9-28)

God wants you to be active while you wait.

GOD told the Jews in exile to build houses and settle down. To plant gardens and eat what they produce.

To marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for their sons and give their daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.

He told them to increase in number, and not decrease, and seek the peace and prosperity of the city where they lived.

God told them to pray for it because when it prospers, they too will prosper. (Jeremiah 29:4-9)

YOUR LIFE continues while you wait for that child to know the Lord. It continues as you wait for your healing.

Your life continues as you wait for business funding. It continues as you wait for answers to prayers. Your life continues.

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Your life continues as you wait

God wants you to serve as you wait.

SIMEON continued to serve God as he eagerly awaited the Messiah. The Holy Spirit had told him that he would not die until he saw Him.

God wants to lead you as you wait.

ANNA continued to worship as the day drew near, and the Spirit led her to the temple at the dedication.

Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you as you wait. Waiting is becoming.

God wants you to focus as you wait.

SIMEON and ANNA understood that to see the Messiah, they needed to focus on God, who had promised.

When Joseph and Mary came to present Jesus, Simeon was there. And the Holy Spirit led Anna to the temple. (Luke 2:22-38)

So you focus on Him while you wait, and as your anticipation rises, so will your worship. Your worship will take your eyes off the gift to the giver.

Waiting will make you a fulfillment of prophecy.

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Waiting makes you a fulfillment of prophecy

God wants your faith to rise as you wait.

THE CENTURION moved from one level of faith to the next when he wanted Jesus to heal his servant. (Matthew 8:5-13)

He began by wanting Jesus to come and changed to him staying back and saying a word.

If our faith can live without God, it is not divinely created. If God had begotten it, it would wait upon him as the flowers wait upon the dew — Charles Spurgeon.

God wants you to ponder over what he says.

VERY OFTEN, you are caught between what God says and what people say.

Mary was in that position when the shepherds came to worship Jesus.

As she waited for what God would do in her son's life, she gave careful thought to them and pondered them in her heart.

God wants you to keep his word in view.

JOSHUA 1:8 says, This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall read [and meditate on] it day and night, so that you may be careful to do [everything] in accordance with all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will be successful.

While you wait, you keep repeating what he says about you. The more you say it, the more it becomes a reality for you.

CALEB and JOSHUA kept God’s word in view when they spied the promised land. No wonder they gave a witness that they could possess the land. (Numbers 13:30)

The word of God, you keep in view, would make a difference to your faith.

Moses knew the ways of God because he kept God’s Word close to his heart. He knew that he who had promised would do it. (Psalm 103:7)

Final Thought

WAITING on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, and to lift the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes upon one's thoughts — Elizabeth Elliot.