"I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and 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. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD." Psalm 40:1-3 (NASB)
The one thing about turbulent times is that it brings you to the end of yourself. Once you realize that you are not God and cannot control everything, you begin to look for help from One who is able to change and control those things you cannot. That's when you cry out to God.
However, just because you cry out to God in times of desperation, the answer does not always come as quickly as you and I would prefer. Why does God make us wait? It's because there are certain things God wants us to learn first. It's in these turbulent times that God knows we will listen to Him.
The three things God wants us to learn are found in the first verse of Psalm 40.
"I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry."
1.
God wants you to trust His timing.
"I waited..."
Waiting is not always a bad thing. Some things done prematurely can hurt you. For example, you don't want to jump off a diving board into a pool until it has been filled with water. Your desire to jump must be delayed if you are to survive the jump. When God delays an answer to your cry, He knows what He is doing. He can be trusted.
2 Peter 3:9 (NASB) The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
2.
God wants you to welcome His molding
and shaping of your life.
"I waited patiently..."
There's a difference between "waiting" and "waiting patiently." The difference is that patience indicates an understanding of God's purpose in making us wait. We are like wooden blocks in the hands of God. He has a carving knife and sand paper and is shaping us. He is committed to us becoming what He intended. We are a project under construction and it will take time to finish.
You wouldn't hand a Van Gogh masterpiece to a toddler with crayons. God is waiting for you and I to get to the point we can responsibly handle His answer.
Patience says to God, "I understand that I'm not ready for your answer and choose to cooperate with your timing until You think I am ready."
James 1:2-4 (NASB) Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.Philippians 1:6 (NASB) For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
3.
God wants you to desire Him more than
what He can do for you.
"I waiting patiently for the Lord."
Another reason God delays answers to our cries is to ween us from seeing Him as some kind of divine store clerk who exists to serve us. Obviously He can do anything and take care of any problem we face in turbulent times. But He created man for Himself. He wants us to see Him as being all we need. Too often we get confused and start thinking it's what He can do for us that we need.
The greatest lesson we could learn is that when you've got Jesus, you've got everything you'll ever need.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NASB) Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.
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1 comments:
Children are usually always Impatient, they usually Whine when they don't get there way, and it's always about them. Me, me ME!
. . . and no matter how much older we grow or how much we mature physically, we are still Children compared to our God who is the Alpha and Omega.
As a child has to trust in the decisions of their parents to be safe and protected, we have to do the same with our Lord Savor God.
By the Way, God is in Charge anyway, let him do his job so we can focus on our jobs and that part time job for all Christians. "Let your Light Shine and be Fisher's of Men"
God Bless you and your Ministries even More!
St del la Fontaine Bleu
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