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

WAIT ON GOD (Pt. 3)


I. WAITING ON GOD MEANS SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.

1. The key to spiritual strength is discovered by waiting on God.

Isaiah the prophet said, 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:28-31).

2. God does not grow ya`aph {weary} or get fatigued.

Why? Because He is `owlam {everlasting} or perpetual. He is ageless! Timeless! God is not limited by time and space. God is not measured by days or years. He is eternal, immortal and infinite. He alone is the Creator of all things.

3. As a result, He has the capacity to strengthen the weary and invigorate the depleted (v.29).

However, this power is reserved for those who “wait upon the Lord” (v.31). Waiting on the Lord will chalaph {renew} or change the believer’s strength. Waiting on the Lord will recharge the battery of the child of God!

4. Isaiah compared this phenomenal strength to soaring on eagle wings.

God’s power can carry the believer to heights unknown! Furthermore, the Prophet told the worn out Israelites, that they would run and not grow weary. In other words, God’s power would provide untiring strength for them. Waiting on God will sustain unrelenting service for Christ. You mean no burnout? Absolutely! God promises His servant the ability to tap into an unlimited reservoir of divine strength. However, this strength is set aside only for those who wait on Him.

5. Are you burnout? Are you spiritually weary?

The key to a healthy, vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ is achieved when we consistently dwell with God. We must reside with Him in His holy tabernacle! It is essential we patiently linger in our prayer closet! The bottom-line is; we must simply take the time to wait on God!

II. WAITING ON GOD MEANS BELIEVING THE BIBLE.

1.Why are we so impatient?

The truth of the matter is we have lost confidence inthe Word of God! The Bible has been placed on the proverbial shelf by many Christians. We no longer read it, memorize it or cling to it. In all reality, most believers do not even pick up their Bibles between Sunday and Saturday. It is not uncommon to find dusty Bibles in the home! The old saying is very true, “dusty Bibles make for dirty Christians.” And we wonder why Christians have so little influence in our communities?

2. What is the solution?

We need a revival in the area of Bible reading! The Word of God will make a difference in your life! David made a remarkable statement in Psalm 130. He said, “I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope”(Psalm 130:5). By hoping in God’s Word David discovered patience and peace. God’s Word gave him a reason to hope! Without the influence of the Bible the believer becomes hopeless, disillusioned and cynical.

3. What happens when a Christian stops reading their Bible?

First of all, we no longer hear God’s voice. The moment the believer gets out of his Bible he turns off the voice of God! He has literally tuned out His Savior. Friend,this is very dangerous! Solomon said, “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination” (Proverbs 28:9). In other words, when you cuwr {turn away} from hearing what God has to say, He turns away from hearing what you have to say. In reality, our prayers are tow`eba{abominable} or disgusting to God. All fellowship with God has been broken. Communication with God has been cut off. The voice of God remains silent, yet we continue on in spite of our ruptured relationship with Him. What happens next?

4. We lose our godly values.

Since the voice of God has been muted in our lives, godly values are replaced with worldly ideology. Slowly but surely, we begin to embrace a more tolerant position. Right and wrong becomes clouded with flawed reasoning. Biblical ethics become watered down or diluted. Morals become loose. Philosophically, we begin to espouse humanism.

5. How does this happen?

The voice of God has been silenced! Instead of letting God’s Word mold our minds, we let Jay Leno or Michael Moore set the standard. The believer must stay in his Bible! The only way God can repair our depraved state of mind is through the Word of God. Paul recommended that we “be not conformed to this world:” but we should “be transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Romans 12:2). Paul told the believers at Rome that they could live a transformed life if they would constantly anakainosis {renew} or renovate their minds. It is vital that we permit the Word of God to recondition our thinking! We must allow the Word of Christ to enoikeo {dwell} in us abundantly if we want godly wisdom (Colossians 3:16).

6. When you silence the voice of God, you automatically lose your godly values. When you release your godly values, you inevitably will no longer be obedient to God. What
happens next is unavoidable. We no longer heed God’s views. The downward spiral continues. We ignore our Bible. Our devotional life becomes non-existent. Our philosophy becomes worldly. We now live in disobedience!

7. On occasion the children of Israel were known to do the very same thing.

The prophet Nehemiah records for us a prayer and confession of the nation of Israel. This prayer reviewed a brief history of the victories and defeats of the people of God. Listen to what Nehemiah said about the national sins of Israel. He said, “Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations” (Nehemiah 9:26).

8. How did Israel treat the Law of God?

They cast it aside!The Hebrew word shalak {cast} literally means to fling, hurl or throw aside. Once the nation of Israel threw aside the standard of God’s Law disobedience and rebellion became the norm. The expression “behind their backs” revealed that Israel was not interested in anything that God had to say.In rebellion they hurled God’s Law behind their backs because they did not want to see God’s revealed will for their lives. Contemporary society has done the same thing!

9. America has expelled the Bible and prayer from her public schools while contraceptives are readily made available to every child.

Drugs, guns and violence have reached epidemic proportions.How could this happen? We have flung the Word of God behind our backs ignoring the principles of right and wrong.When you silence the voice of God, you lose godly values. When you lose godly values you no longer heed the biblical views of God.

10. In all reality, waiting on God means believing the Bible.

When you hear the voice of God in a consistent manner you will establish godly values in your personal life. As you institute godly values you will obediently take heed to what God has to say. Obedience will be the norm.

Conclusion

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? Wait on God! Trust in Him! Keep your eyes on Him! Without a doubt, you will be tempted to take matters into our own hands. Nevertheless, we must remember that impatience can often bring us to the wrong conclusion. Acting on impulse can be very dangerous. Making premature decisions without consulting God and His Word can be devastating. Patiently wait on God. At any moment He may dispatch a host of angelic ravens to sustain you at your Cherith. Stay in vital union with the Vine. Don’t sever yourself from Him. Faithfully abide in Him. Listen to His voice as you read His Word. If you chose to wait on God,He will give you strength to run and you will not grow weary. He will cause you to walk and not faint. The challenge for the believer is to wait on God.