Why Wait?

Somewhere along the Christian journey I [Kirk] synthesized the belief that if I were to walk by faith, I must first do something in the name of faith to offer proof to having faith – a serving of faith to create a saving faith in order to be secure in faith. Unfortunately, such would amount to little more than trying to convince myself that I believed in Jesus. I would seek faith for faith's sake believing that when I had mined enough of this divine gold, I would then be rich in faith and would be a true follower of Christ. The notion of waiting upon God did not seem to be a spiritually approved function of one who was dynamically pursuing Christ. But Biblical faith is more than what you believe. Biblical faith is an understanding that the what serves only to bring you to the who you rely upon.

Waiting upon God is to depend upon Him. Many relegate "walking by faith" to doing those things that are bold or sacrificial in the name of God. However this may be missing the simple truth of waiting upon God. Moses ended up wandering in the wilderness for forty years due to his unwillingness to wait.

Moses' wandering launched immediately upon doing God's work in his own human way, killing the Egyptian soldier. Violation of Egyptian law was not God's plan for Moses and this violent act exposed the achieving of God's will to undue obstacles, all because Moses' impulsive nature was unwilling to wait. The consequences of not waiting takes us places by the force of our choice that we will not want to travel, in Moses' case the wilderness wandering.

Here we need to note that there is a vast difference between the wilderness wandering and the wilderness sojourn of some forty years. Waiting on God is truly a precursor to experiencing the power of God within the human condition fraught with powerlessness. The extent to which we resist God's plan is the extent to which we are disposed to wandering the wilderness path.

We are most uncomfortable with waiting and feel that to wait is akin to doing nothing. Such a perspective places the issue into plain view of the problem. We think we are capable of doing something for God by simply doing what we think seems logical. How far from the point could we be? Do we even know what God wills to accomplish within our time? Do we know what He wishes to achieve within our strength yielded to Him as He empowers us with His Spirit? Do we realize that our spiritual gifts are a reservoir of God's power on earth that is waiting for God's wielding?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
      neither are your ways my ways,”
            declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
      so are my ways higher than your ways
      and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isa. 55:8–9 NIV)

The wandering was not without divine purpose and caused Moses to come to the limits of his ability that divine enabling could occur. We really do not understand who we are until we are brought to define ourselves by the virtue of our limitations. The conclusions we reach about ourselves while gazing from the summit of our life's powerlessness is truly virtuous, moving us to embrace humility and a desire to wait upon God.

Waiting brings to light who and what we really are as we stand before God. True waiting upon God indicates reliance on Him and resting in Him and a brokenness before Him that signifies a readiness to receive from Him the very essence of what He desires to give. Waiting on God is embraced with a fear of adulterating His heart with our mind, and contaminating His will with our way. So waiting is vital in helping clarify our doing God's work His way over seeking our will in His name. Waiting signifies our having an utter disregard for what self can do and places value on God to lead us.

We stand ready to do God's will as He provides us the power to accomplish His good pleasure. Waiting is characterized by a seeking disposition whereby we engage Christ relationally in prayer, through the Scriptures, and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Here we beseech God to guide us into the full knowledge of His will for the purpose of embracing the good pleasure of His heart, that we would be given wisdom and spiritual understanding so that we would walk worthy of the Lord.

“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God” (Eph. 4:1 NLT).


Insight Journal
What keeps me from waiting on God’s direction in my life? What sins must I confess in light of this admission?