Waiting on God’s is probably the most difficult task for a Christian because it often tests his faith to the limit. However, why is it important to wait on God for his timing?
God’s plans for us perfectly aligns with His timing for our lives that only the author of life alone sees and know- and this emphasizes the fact that without faith it is impossible to please God. This is the reason the Bible calls Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
The foundation of every meaningful walk with God is a walk of faith. Believing that He is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
As the author of our faith walk with Him, He designed our walkthroughs and therefore knows the beginning, the end, and everything in between. He knows when to take us to the next level even though in our arrogant heart we feel we are always ready to take on any task in our own strength.
As the author he has designed our curriculum and therefore must take us through his lesson notes, when to take us through peculiar examinations and how to groom us to pass in flying colors- ultimately preparing us as a peculiar people for his glory and His Kingdom.
Knowing this therefore, we need to trust Him, obey Him and believe that there are benefits to waiting on the Lord.
To be sure, not all men have chosen to enroll in the school of divine waiting. For those who have chosen to wait on the Lord they must understand the secret of his timing.
There are therefore 3 important schools we must attend to be well prepared and to avoid taking matters into our hands as we wait on him.
School of Patience and Reflection
Constantly reflecting on God’s plan for our lives keeps us in touch with God’s timing and also keeps us patiently on track.
God’s plan for our lives are sure and steady and without doubt. Waiting for them does not take away the reliability of His plan. In fact a careful look at nature should instruct us that everything that God made has its time and season.
In Jeremiah 29: 11 we find what God says about his plan: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”.
This is the cardinal promise that powers divine timing and its associated school of endurance, and a constant reflection on this would do us a world of good.
Men who have tasted God’s mercy had a firm grip of this divine assurance and they therefore learnt to wait for God’s perfect timing in their lives. Job says: “All the days of my warfare would I wait, Till my release should come”. (Job 14:14, ASV).
Job was a man who had a firsthand experience with the battle of life and he gave us an account of how waiting played an important role in his victory over Satan.
Lamentations 3:25 says: “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him and to the person who seeks Him”, and indeed the Lord was good to Job after his fiery ordeal.
The second is the school of Sobriety.
Sobriety is a special Christian trait—a calm yet focused attitude, an ability to trust God enough to restrain our emotions and walk through difficult situations with grace.
Without Sobriety in a world that is constantly seeking excitement we would always miss God and sadly on his plan for our lives.
This is so easy in the present situation because of increasing alternatives called “ self- helps”. Jesus and the Apostles did not use self-help manual to defeat Satan, the only manual they used was the Word of God as inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The Bible warns us to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8.), and only the Word of God can halt Satan’s advances against God’s plan for our lives and only a sober man can successfully resort to the divine manual by reason of sober living.
Being sober is to constantly ensure that we purge our lives from the burden and cares of this life and remain focused on his plan for our life.
Jesus, speaking to us, said, “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.” (Luke 21:34).
The third is the School of Humility
God develops humility in us by causing us to wait. David is a good example and the Bible says before honor is humility.
Without humility no can man attain divinity and none can fully master his assignments in the school of waiting. Why? God uses waiting to prune us and humble us. Only a humble man can be used by God.
Why does God have to humble men before he can use them? Because the very nature of sin distorts our self-identity. We all have a corrupted self-identity which gives us false ideas of ourselves that are not objectively true.
Left to our own devices, we tend to grow in pride and arrogance rather than in humility. Therefore, God, in His mercy and grace, develops humility in us to prepare us for the glory he has promised us.
Reading: Genesis 41:1-14
