"Then the word of the Lord came to him: 'This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.'...Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness." -Gen 15:4&6
"Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him." -Gen 21:5
We continue our study on waiting by looking at Abraham's life. Let's look at the remaining reasons why God allows us to go through waiting seasons. I think there is much to learn on this topic that will serve as an encouragement in our waiting.
Just keep going, and going...
One of the qualities that God works in us during our waiting is perseverance. Some people are naturally inclined to hold on when the road gets tough. There are folks in this world (both followers and non-followers of Jesus) that are incredibly resilient. In spite of the worst circumstances, these folks, have managed to get through it and become stronger individuals as a result. However, most of us do not fit into this category. It is easy to trust God when we see tangible results in our lives; when He answers our prayers swiftly and we see the fruit of our sowing. Yet it is entirely different to continue to believe and trust God when we go through those dark and narrow valleys. This is when perseverance has to kick in. God allows the promises He made us to take longer than we expect to form in us the ability to simply not give up! Romans 5:3-4 says it this way, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." So many of us would be able to accomplish so many great things in this world and for God if we simply made the firm decision to never give up. Abraham learned this through waiting all those years for God to fulfill His promise to him. Waiting on the promise created a resilience in him that would not have been formed any other way. So must it be with us. We need to learn how to not give up because every battle won is a vivid reminder of God's faithfulness for the next one. The lessons we learn now will help us later on.
Are you ready?
Another trait that God instills in us in the waiting season is preparation. Any parent will know this basic fact that when an infant grows into a toddler, they begin a phase where they insist on doing everything themselves. "Mommy, me do." "No daddy, I do!" Though it is important to the child's development that they be allowed to do certain things on their own, it is also for their own safety and well-being that the responsible parent not allow them to do things for which they are ill prepared (i.e. cutting their own hair). The same principle applies in our walk with God. So many times we try to rush God into giving us now the things He Himself promised us yet we fail to realize how inadequate and ill prepared we are to receive them at that moment. God allows us to wait for His promises in order to take us through a season of preparation. As great as the blessings and promises of God are to us, they will inevitably require hard work and maturity. However, if we receive them before our hearts and minds are ready, we are liable to make ill use of them or neglect them completely. The prodigal son is a good example of this principle. He ardently asked his father for his half of the inheritance and notice what the Bible says about what occurred shortly after. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living" (Luke 15:13). The younger (less mature) son was not prepared to handle the wealth his father gave him. He did not submit to a **season of preparation before hand and later found himself with nothing to his name. When we rush God into giving us His promises now, we are in danger of getting ourselves in trouble later on. God's timing is perfect even if everything in us says otherwise. We must wait for God! He is never early, never late, always on time.
Caterpillar into butterfly.
A major work that God accomplishes in our season of waiting is character transformation. During waiting seasons, God focuses His attention on correcting issues in our hearts. He begins to put His finger on areas of our lives that either need change or behaviors and attitudes that need to be entirely removed. God knows that before He can release the promise, our character must be in line to receive it. When God gave the promise of Isaac, He gave it to Abram yet it was Abraham who received it. The season of waiting provides God the time He needs to work on our hearts. God begins the process of transformation in our lives from who we are now to who He has created us to be. Many times, God uses trials to refine us. To create in us spiritual maturity. James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." Many of the great men and women in the Bible experienced this in their lives. Joseph, for example, waited 13 years for God to fulfill the dreams He gave him as a teenager. Yet during those 13 long and hard years God focused intensely on shaping Joseph's character so that when he sat at the right hand of Pharaoh, he would be mentally and emotionally prepared for his promotion. God (if He has to) will delay blessings for our own benefit (long term) and His glory.
The flesh must die.
Twenty-five years is a very long time to wait for a promise. Yet Abraham did and because he believed God when he did not yet see it (having no evidence in the natural...simple definition of faith), God credited to him as righteousness. Last on the list is the dying to self. Let me clearly state this up front: God is always a giver. He is generosity in its purest and highest form and it is not His purpose to take things away from us simply for the sake of doing so. Having said this, I also want to point out the words of the John the Baptist in John 3:30 "He must become greater; I must become less." When we wait on God, the ***flesh is forced to die. The killing of the flesh simply stated is this: dying to what we want so that God can fulfill His plan and purpose in and through me. The apostle Paul wrote the following in His epistle to the Galatians, "For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other..." (Gal 5:17). God waited to give Abraham a son until his flesh died...until the time when it was physically impossible for him and Sarah to produce a child. When we allow the flesh to die (through waiting), it gives God the opportunity to act on our behalf often under impossible circumstances and provides us with a testimony of God's faithfulness and love. This is, I believe, what the apostle Paul wanted to convey when he wrote, "that no flesh should glory in His presence". (1 Cor 1:29)
Final Thoughts:
Reader, I want you to know that your waiting is not in vain. Your Heavenly Father sees you. What is done in secret, He Himself will reward openly (Matt 6:6). I know how hard a waiting season can be, however, I also know how utterly faithful God always is. Your pain is not hidden to Him and though it may hurt to wait in this moment, every season has a beginning and an end. God will bring His promises to fruition. Every. Single. One. We simply need to wait.
**doesn't last forever...yet enough for us to think it does***the flesh here refers to our own carnal desires/lusts
Comments
Post a Comment