Dear Sister, Are You Waiting On God To Fulfill His Promise?
Waiting on God
For me, waiting on God could be termed as the dreaded part of His promise. By nature, I am one who wants what I want yesterday, not tomorrow, and certainly not later than that.
I imagine if we were to sit down and have a round table discussion about waiting and waiting on God most would agree that waiting is one of the hardest parts of walking in a relationship with God. But it is a part of our relationship with God nonetheless. I believe our difficulty resides in the unknown of the timing. Give us a date and time when it ends, and I think we might buckle down and endure until then, but under normal circumstances God doesn’t work like that.
In my teaching for Not Home Yet: A Glimpse of Revelation’s Treasures Bible study, we look at the waiting and questioning of the martyrs in Revelation 6:10, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
We are in good company when we cry out to the Lord, “How long, O Lord?”
Think about how many times we asked, How much longer? in different circumstances in our life?
How much longer before I will be out of school?
How much longer before I get the job of my dreams?
How much longer before I will be married?
How much longer before my husband and I will work through this problem?
How much longer before I will get pregnant?
How much longer before this child will be born?
How much longer before this child will learn this lesson?
In actuality, life is a series of “How long, O Lord?”
God’s Answer To Our Question
“And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap if we do not loose heart.”
Galatians 6:9
God gave us this promise because He knows waiting has the potential to weary and discourage us. Sometimes weariness and discouragement nudge us toward giving up. Waiting is not easy. It is work to wait and stay in faith, but God is growing us in the work of waiting. Waiting is an exercise of faith; it is a spiritual exercise, part of our Spiritual Circuit Training that we talked about last week, that builds and develops our faith. James 1:3-4 tells us that tested faith produces patience in us that gets us to a place of God’s perfected work in us.
“Knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience. But let patience
have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
James 1:3-4
Now let’s take a deeper look into the word translated as patience in James 1:4 in the NKJV. Some translations use the term perseverance rather than patience. Looking at the original Greek term, hupomone, it means steadfastness, constancy, endurance describing someone not swayed from his purpose and faith even while experiencing trials and sufferings. With that original meaning in view, it seems perseverance fits the narrative better. We also see the power and effect of perseverance in Romans 5:3-4.
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces
perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Romans 5:3-4
God’s Promise
We see that God purposed waiting for our spiritual growth and maturity; however spiritual development doesn’t always motivate or inspire us. Yet, waiting on God’s promises provide us with more than the outcome of spiritual maturity.
“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes,
and Amen, to the glory of God through us.”
2 Corinthians 1:20
Our God of promises says, “Yes and Amen.” He promised good rewards to His people who wait, but as we already acknowledged, sometimes waiting feels like torture or some form of punishment. Look with me at Exodus 23:22-30 and this story of God’s promises and his people waiting on the fulfillment. In Exodus 23:22 God gave them a conditional promise.
“But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak,
then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversary.”
Exodus 23:22
In Exodus 23:23, God promised His people He would drive out their enemies before them. In verse 29, He gave them a time frame – “I will not drive them out from before you in one year . . .” Most of the time when I think about God doing something for me, I think God will do it when He gets ready. So, God specifying a time frame caught my attention.
Even more captivating was God’s reason for holding out on fulfilling His promise. In verse 29 God told them His reason for not moving the enemy out in an instant.
“. . . lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field
become too numerous for you.”
Exodus 23:29
I love it! God purposed their waiting for the fulfillment of His promises to them to provide them with the protection they needed in that particular season of life.
Fulfilled Promises
We often think God isn’t working when we see no evidence of Him fulfilling His promises to us, but this story reminds us that His good purpose and plan guides the fulfillment of His promises. Therefore, we can be confident that God is working.
Think about these fulfilled promises that we have the privilege to look back on..
The promised son, Isaac was born 25 years after God’s original promise. Abraham was 100 years old when God fulfilled that promised. (Genesis 12:1-4; 22:2).
Joseph had a dream that God gave him. Joseph’s dream was God’s promise to him. It took years for his dream to be fulfilled. (Genesis 37-48).
God gave Caleb a promise and forty-five years later, his dream of entering and taking the Promised Land came to pass (Joshua 14:10).
Don’t forget David, who said, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13)
The posture and position of waiting is part of God’s Promise to us.
Waiting sometimes positions us for spiritual growth, provision, or protection. I believe God uses waiting to prepare us for a future task, to build our trust, or even to reveal His will in and through our faith. No matter God’s purpose in our waiting, we can trust in His goodness and faithfulness. As 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself.”
What are you waiting for? Has God spoken a promise to you yet you see nothing?
I want to encourage you today to keep on keeping on. Don’t give up.
And let us not grow weary while doing good,
for in due season we shall reap if we do not loose heart.
Galatians 6:9
Much Love and Blessings!
