WAIT ON GOD

1. One of the most difficult things to do when you don’t know what to do is nothing. To
wait! To be patient and let God handle the matter. Believers need to learn to wait on God!
2. Have you ever made a premature decision and regretted that decision? Have you ever taken matters into your own hands and made a mess out of that situation? Have you ever done something on impulse? How many people have made a mess of their finances because they could not wait? Impetuous decisions made in haste often turn out to be disastrous.
3. Solomon advised the believer to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7).
4. Too many times we sha`an {lean} or trust in our own understanding, or our own wisdom. Nevertheless, Solomon encouraged us to yada` {acknowledge} God in all our decisions. In others words, we should wait and get divine direction from God. In everything we do we must follow the pathway of God. So many times we make decisions independent of God. The results can be catastrophic! What does it mean to wait on God?

WAITING MEANS TRUSTING

1. First of all, waiting on God involves trusting Him. The believer must simply trust God. David said, “7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth” (Proverbs 37:7-9).
2. Notice the tranquil terminology of the words “rest,” “wait,” “cease,” and “forsake.” Contrast these serene words with the worrisome expression “fret not” found two times (vv. 7, 8). The phrase, “rest in the Lord” comes from the Hebrew word damam {rest}. It means to be still, to be silent, or to be quiet before the Lord. In other words we need to tune out everything around us and listen to God.
3. When was the last time you went into the presence of the Lord and sat in silence? This involves trust! This requires time! As we rest in the Lord we must “patiently wait” with expectation that God will take care of the situation. Therefore, we should “cease” from our anger and “forsake” our resentment realizing God is ultimately in control. For this reason, we must charah {fret not} or get all bent out of shape over the circumstances of our life. Instead of fretting over the situation we must trust in the Lord.

WAITING ON GOD MEANS KEEPING OUR EYES ON HIM

1. Trusting the Lord involves keeping our eyes on Him. It is so easy to get our eyes on the circumstances of this life! David shares with us a great truth when he says, “As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us” (Psalm 123:2).
2. In the same way a master provides for his servants, God will provide for His children. However, we must keep our eyes on His all sufficient hand! We must remember that His resources are limitless! The omnipotent hand of God reaches into His vast reservoir of unseen riches and supplies the needs of those who trust him. No wonder David cried out in praise, “The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. 16 Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15-16).
3. In gratuitous generosity God throws open His hand and satisfies the needs of every living creature. How big is the hand of God? Big enough to fill the needs of all men! Tommy Barnett tells a story about a poor, little boy in a store. The owner of the store tells the boy, “Reach your hand in that jar and get you out a hand full of candy.” But the little boy shakes his head. The man insists, “Now, come on son, reach in there and get you a hand full of that candy.” Again the boy shakes his head. The man reaches in the candy jar and pulls out a hand full of candy. “There you go, son, I want you to have this.” The little boy leaves the store beaming. Outside the mother questions him, “Why wouldn’t you reach in the jar and get that candy?” As he filled his pockets he looked at her with a wry grin, “His hand is bigger than mine.” God’s hand is bigger than yours. He is not a stingy God. He wants to meet your needs so out of the overflow other people’s needs will be met.
4. God’s hand is big! In Elijah’s case, God used ravens for six months to bring him
sustenance (1 Kings 17:1-7).
5. A raven is a black carnivorous bird that weighs around three pounds. They primarily feast on carrion or as we say in West Virginia, “road kill.”
6. For approximately six months God miraculously used the ravens to sustain Elijah while he was stationed at the brook of Cherith. Our loving Lord controlled the flight of these unclean birds and directed them to bring bread and flesh to Elijah both morning and
evening (v.6).
7. The raven is the only bird that does not feed their own children. Yet, these carnivorous birds submissively brought bread and flesh fit for a Jewish man twice a day.
8. This small, insignificant bird became a mighty instrument in the hand of God providing filet mignon and fresh bread for Elijah.
9. Each day our Heavenly Father faithfully launched His divine carriers to provide nourishment for Elijah. As an agent of the Holy Spirit these ravens were totally controlled by the omnipotent hand of God.
10. This remnant of ravens sustained Elijah for six months as he patiently waited. The only command God gave to Elijah at Cherith was to “hide thyself” (v.3). Perhaps some might assume this to be a simple assignment. On the contrary! It is very difficult for a passionate prophet to sit still and do nothing. By the way, we all have a tendency to push God periodically. He needs our help, right? Wrong! We often pray, “Lord give me patience, but hurry up!”
11. God is not restricted to our timetable. Yet we allocate God a certain amount of time to fix our problems or we just won’t serve Him anymore. If God doesn’t fall in line with my agenda then I won’t live for Him.
12. This seems to be the silent reasoning of carnal Christianity. We forget waiting on God means keeping our eyes on Him and not our circumstances. We must patiently rest in Him with our eyes focused on heaven. The assignment given to Elijah was to simply wait and cathar {conceal himself in secrecy} according to 1 Kings 17:3.
13. What was it like for Elijah to wait on God? Envision the beautiful scenery that
surrounded Elijah. The thickness of the moss covered the rocks like plush carpet. The
gigantic palm trees shielded him from the sizzling sun. The sound of the winding stream
must have been serene. The spectacular scenes of wildlife had to be awesome. In
addition to this, he didn’t even have to cook! Converted carnivorous caters serve him a
daily portion of bread and meat.
14. What was God doing for those six months? God was molding His man. The word Cherith means a place of cutting. Slowly but surely, God was carving away the sins of self-reliance and self-sufficiency from Elijah.
15. God seems to have a tendency to lead His messengers to the brook of Cherith to begin the process of slicing away the sins of self-centeredness. We often hear dazzling sermons concerning the public success at Carmel, but rarely hear a message about the privacy of Cherith. God’s work in Elijah at Cherith was instrumental at Carmel. The great victory Elijah experienced on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:17-40) was in reality won when he patiently waited six months at the brook of Cherith. The servant of God must learn to wait in private for the ravens at Cherith. Then he can cherish the public feat on Mount Carmel. The prophet Elijah learned to patiently wait and keep his eyes on God at the brook of Cherith.