WHAT TO DO
When you don’t know what to do?

WAIT ON GOD (Pt. 2)

WAITING ON GOD MEANS POWER FOR SERVICE

1. If we are to be effective servants for Jesus Christ we must learn to wait on God. Why do Christians suffer from spiritual burnout? Because we don’t know what it means to wait on God! We attempt to serve God in the power of the flesh. David said, “13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say,
on the LORD (Psalm 27:13-14).”
2. Waiting on God is where we see or experience the goodness of the Lord. This in turn will energize our service for Christ! He shall 'amats {strengthen} or fortify our hearts. God will make our hearts spiritually strong if we tarry with Him.
3. The child of God must do the work of God in the power of God. It is foolish for a believer to attempt spiritual work in the energy of the flesh! When we try to serve God in our flesh we soon discover how inept we are. It is a futile to say the least!
4. Suppose I decide to drive my car to Atlanta, Georgia. Periodically I must refuel my vehicle. Every three hundred miles or so I must stop and top off the gas. However, what if I continued my journey without refueling my car? Undoubtedly you would see me on the shoulder of the interstate out of gas. Metaphorically many believers are on the sidelines of Christian service because they are out of gas. We call this spiritual burnout!
5. How can I avoid spiritual burnout? We must learn to refuel by waiting on God! Waiting on God is the secret to spiritual energy! How does waiting on God empower me for service?
6. Waiting on God empowers me with His presence. How soon we forget that waiting on God involves time alone with Him. This is the first step to spiritual power! I must set aside the time each day to enter into His presence. This not only takes time, but discipline.
7. One of the greatest struggles you will face in your Christian life will be in the area of discipline. We must organize our personal discipleship to include getting alone with God everyday. You can do this in the morning or you can do this in the evening. Depending on your personality type, decide what time is best for you. If you are a morning person then seek God in the morning hours.
8. David was evidently a morning person. He said, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee (Psalm 143:8).”
9. Perhaps you are an evening person. Then get alone with God in the evening. Jesus would often get alone with His Father in the evening hours. Matthew tells us, “And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone (Matthew 14:23).”
10. The point is set aside a scheduled time to get alone with God and enter His presence. Getting alone with God and entering into His holy presence will make a difference in your life.
11. Moses the man of God, spent forty days and forty nights on Mount Sinai alone with God (Exodus 34:27-35). Having enjoyed the presence of God, Moses returned to the children of Israel with the Ten Commandments. The Scripture tells us that “the skin on his face” qaran {shone} or more literally, sent out rays of light. The light was so bright that when Moses spoke to Aaron and the people they had to put a vail over his face.
12. What was this light? This light was a reflection of God’s glory. The light on Moses’ face was the result of his coming into the presence of the Father. We must remember that God is Light (1 John 1:5). John said, “Jesus is the Light of the world” (John 8:12). In the same way the moon is a reflection of the sun, the child of God must reflect God’s radiant glory. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the child of God constantly live in His presence. Spending time in His holy presence will empower you for Christian service.
13. Jesus illustrated this truth by using the metaphor of the Vine and the branches (John 15:1-8). As our Lord walked with His disciples through the Kidron Valley to Gethsemane He shared with them an object lesson from the vineyards that filled the landscape along the hillsides. Jesus told the disciples, “I am the Vine and you are the branches (v.5).”
14. The key to the Christian life is for the branch to remain in constant union with the Vine. The life of the Vine flows into the believer to produce fruit. Therefore, Jesus told the disciples that they must meno {abide} in Him (v.4).
15. In the same way it is impossible for the branch to bear fruit apart from the Vine; neither can the believer yield fruit severed from Christ. Jesus told the disciples, “for without me you can do nothing (v. 5).” The word choris {without} means separate or severed from. In other words, when the believer is detached from the life of Christ, he cannot do anything of spiritual significance.
16. The word “abide” is found seven times in this passage. The believer is commanded to abide in Christ. How does the child of God abide in Christ? How does the believer remain in constant fellowship with the Father? Jesus shared two ways: First of all, the believer must stay spiritually clean. This is accomplished by the cleansing power of the Word of God. Jesus told the disciples, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you” (v.3). The Greek word katharos {clean} is translated “pure” seventeen times in the New Testament.
17. The Word of God is the pruning instrument that the Holy Spirit uses in the believer’s life to keep him pure. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for the believer to abide in the scriptures. In regard to this truth, Merrill Tenney said, “The means by which pruning or cleaning is done is the Word of God. It condemns sin; it inspires holiness; it promotes growth. As Jesus applied the words God gave him to the lives of the disciples, they underwent a pruning process that removed evil from them and conditioned them for further service.”[1]
18. The Word of God is the pruning tool that God uses in the life of the believer to conform him into the image of Christ. Satan will do almost anything to keep a believer away from the Bible. Nonetheless, one cannot over emphasize the importance of the Word of God in the life of a believer.
19. Jesus shared a second way in which the believer is to remain in continual fellowship with the Father. The believer must stay spiritually connected. Yes, the child of God must stay spiritually clean through the Word of God. On the other hand, he must also remain in vital communion with Christ through prayer. Jesus told the disciples, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (v.7). The Greek word aiteo {ask} means to beg or to call for. This describes the active prayer life of the child of God. You cannot separate the Word of God and prayer!
20. Communication is two-fold. When we pray, we are talking to God. When we read the Bible, God is talking to us. This vital connection is maintained through abiding in the Word and asking what you will. Once the believer gets into the Word, the Word will get into him (this is the meaning of the phrase, “if ye abide in me and my words abide in you).” The Word of God is THE LIFE of the Vine flowing into the life of the Christian. The Word has a cleansing affect. The supernatural result is fruit! The John 15 passage is a sure cure for spiritual burnout! The life of the Vine will empower you for His service. Abiding in Christ is accomplished by waiting on God!



[1] Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary “The Gospel of John,” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981), 151.