Yesterday I was reading Journals of the Heart and it said: Ask and it will be given liberally but you must take the time to wait on Me…time to listen. Some things come instantly but some require patience and a willingness to spend time with Me. In fact, some things do not come without time. After all, I am not a genie in a bottle. What I desire is relationship and the more you get to know Me the more you will know…the more wisdom you will have. I guess you could say, “Time equals wisdom and wisdom equals time.” Ask for wisdom today for the decisions you need to make and I will give it liberally.
I totally agree. In ministering to people, I observed that while some things could come instantly like healing and financial miracles, there are some things which require patience and time. For example, the renewal of mind and building a relationship with God takes time. And especially when it comes to changing of people's heart, you really got to give it time for God to work on them. I have found that in area of relationships like waiting for a life partner, such things don't usually happen instantly after you ask God. That's because another person's will is involved. You may be ready for marriage but your other half may not. So you have to be patient to let God work in your partner's heart.
Another area which people have to wait is for a child. Somehow I find that more often than not, many prayers for a child do not come instantly. Maybe I am wrong but this is what I observe from people around me. Anyway this isn't anything strange for there was a famous precedence set in the bible about Abraham waiting for his promised child. Romans 4:20 says that Abraham was strengthened in his faith as he held on to the promises of God. Victoria Osteen's blog said that even Abraham, the father of our faith, had to wait many years to see the promises of God fulfilled. But he didn't give up or shrink back. He didn't understand it all but he held on to the promises and supernaturally became stronger.
God doesn't want us to become weaker while we are waiting on Him. He doesn't want us to be worn out and exhausted wondering when He is going to come through for us. No, He wants us to become stronger. He wants us to be empowered through Him, however, we have to make the choice to wait the right way. When we wait the right way by holding on to the promises of God, we are strengthened and secure in faith. How do we hold on to the promises? By meditating on them; by speaking them; by thanking God for them; by reading and declaring the scriptures.
When I was waiting to conceive Joshua, I used to hate seeing Isaiah 40:31 'Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall soar like wings on eagles. They shall run but not be weary. They shall walk but not be faint.' I didn't like to wait so I hated verses that tell me to wait. But this verse is not about waiting for your promise to come to pass. This verse is about waiting upon the Lord. It's regardless of whether a promise has come to pass in your life. Most of the time we need to learn to wait upon the Lord for instructions in our life, when to take our next step etc.
On first reading I always felt that this verse is contradictory. Most people would agree with me that waiting almost always wears people out. Just like running a marathon. You can start off fresh and energetic but as the years go by, you lose your strength, your passion and energy. There will come a point when you wonder if you will ever reach the finish line. This usually occurs when you are super tired and all ready to call it quits. You feel like you cannot wait any more, cannot continue pressing forward towards the goal. You cry out to the Lord for help...
The Lord is so gracious. He will carry you and give you the strength to continue. You will find some rest and refreshment when you run to Him. This will always provide you with the renewed passion and fire to get back in the race. In my journey of waiting, I discovered that as I held on to the promises, I became supernaturally stronger. I don't know how it happened. It has to be God. In the natural, I should be weary and worn out from the years of waiting, plus all the perils of the journey like heartaches, disappointments, taunting by the enemy, spiritual resistance and attacks etc.
However at some point I swung to the other extreme. From hating to wait for my promise, I became so used to and comfortable with waiting. I felt like I could wait forever. My attitude changed from that of urgency to nonchalance. This also wasn't good because it meant I was getting lodged into the waiting mode when it was time for me to move on. I even became confused wondering if I had reached my destination. Just like how Abraham thought Ishmael was the promised child.
It wasn't downright rebellion to what God has told me to do. It was just that during the long journey of waiting, one could be sidetracked and go off course. One could easily be confused about the initial plan God has. After all there were just too many distractions along the way and one could lose focus of the goal. Some people could decide that the journey was too hard or too painful to continue so they made a conscious decision to settle where they were. It might not be God's best for them but they decided that it was good enough.
God had to shake me out of my comfort zone of waiting and repeatedly tell me that it was time to move on from that mountain for I had circled it long enough. He came to renew that promise to me and made clear His plan. It was after His visitation that I became empowered and strengthened. He caused me to set my face like flint upon that finish line and encouraged me that it was the last lap. Very soon I will be holding my promise in my arms. At this point, I felt the strength came back to me. The Lord restored my strength and renewed my youth. Surprisingly, I found myself stronger spiritually and physically as I waited upon the Lord, assured that I would surely complete the race and cross the finish line. And the rest was history.
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