In the previous message I shared about how God is a Master Trainer and really wants to teach us how to WAIT. When He has worked this into our lives, He will trust us with so much more. Just like a dog who has learnt to hear and obey the Master’s voice, he can then be taken to lots more places, walking in unison with the Master. Amos 3:3 says, ‘How can 2 walk together unless they agree.’
God wants to teach us how to wait but unfortunately we can be like the man who prayed. “God I want you to give me patience and I want it now!!”
Some of the important spiritual blessings just take time. The bible says that our times are in His hands and in God’s plan, timing is everything.
I believe that in some of these really important things, nothing is going to happen until we are ready. You may think you are ready but until you can be trusted like a well trained dog, the door remains closed. You have to remain muzzled or on a short lead.
The bible has examples of those who ran ahead of God and lost out big time.
The story of King Saul’s fall from grace comes to mind in 1 Samuel 13:1-23.
King Saul was chosen to be Israel’s King and started off well but lost everything because he didn’t wait. The Prophet Samuel told him to wait for him to arrive after 7 days, but Saul took matters into his own hands and offered a sacrifice to the Lord. This was a big mistake, for only Priests are allowed to do this. Samuel finally arrived, and told Saul that he had lost the Kingdom because he hadn’t waited.
“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. But now your kingdom shall not continue. 1 Samuel 13:13-14
Another example of waiting is found in Jeremiah 42:4-7. Jeremiah the Prophet was approached by the remnant of Israel and asked for advice. He told them to wait while he went and sought the Lord, but it took 10 days before he came back with an answer. That was a long time to wait, wasn’t it? You would think that with him being a Prophet, Jeremiah would get an immediate answer, but he had to wait 10 days. Why would we think that God should always answer us immediately. Sometimes we have to wait on God as well, but remember delay is not always denial.
Even Jesus the Son of God had to wait on the Father. When choosing the 12 Apostles, it says that Jesus had to pray all night. Pray all night? You would think that getting 12 names wouldn’t be that hard for the Son of God. Shouldn’t that only take a few minutes? Wouldn’t the Father just say to Him who they were? “ Matthew Mark Luke and John.. etc.” How long does that take?”
“One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:” John 6:12-13
Before the day of Pentecost arrived, Jesus told the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father in a particular place. They weren’t exactly sure what it was they were waiting for and had no idea how long they would have to wait. It ended up being 10 days. If any of them had decided to leave the group on the 6th day or do it themselves at home they would have missed out.
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;” Acts 1:4
Our waiting is a way in which God teaches us obedience and develops our character to receive the bigger things that we are asking Him for. Joseph’s extended time in prison prepared him for the fulfillment of his dream to be a great ruler and he had to wait 17 years for it to come to pass.
Another example is Moses waiting 40 years in the back-side of the desert to prepare him for the huge task of delivering the Children of Israel out of Egypt.
Let us take our training more seriously, and stay focused so that we will please the Master. The long delays are not denial. If we are trained in the art of waiting God will use greatly in these Last Days.
