WONDERS OF WAITING ON THE LORD

MEMORY VERSE: 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 wear; and they shall walk, and not faint, Isaiah 40:31

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 1, 1 Cor 12, Ezek 10, John 11

Failure to wait on the Lord can be very costly. A Christian couple decided to pray before setting out for an engagement. While committing the journey into the hands of the Lord, the Lord told them to wait for a few minutes before leaving. For one reason or the other they became impatient and left. While travelling, they had a ghastly motor accident which rendered the wife paralyzed for life. At times people wonder why the righteous get into situations like this; it could be because the righteous failed to wait as instructed by God. If a single sister thoroughly waits on the Lord, she won’t fall into the hands of a wife beater.

A fellow who refuses to wait might have his way or get what he wants, but that thing might him hunt for the rest of his life. Sarai got what she wanted ;Hagar became pregnant. Immediately she conceived Sarai became despised in her eyes (Genesis 16:1-6). She became a thorn in her flesh and almost destroyed her marriage of over twenty years.

The life of a fellow who waits on the Lord can be compared to a planted seed. At first the seed will die and decompose. In the first few days or weeks, it looks as if nothing is happening but in actually sense the seed is taking root. After taking root it will start to grow. At first you see a little flower. Before you know it, that little flowers turns into a big tree that bears many fruits. Not only that, it grows branches where birds can build their nests. The leaves from this tree can also act as a shade from the hot sun. Isaiah 40:31 says 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 wear; and they shall walk, and not faint. The life of a fellow who waits on the Lord takes the same course. It will first go down to take root before coming up. At first their life looks dull with no resemblance of greatness but after a while things begin to get better little by little. Before you know it, mighty things begin to happen and people start  asking how did you do it? The lives of those who wait on the Lord are always a wonder. A man of God once shared with us how he used to wear his wife’s belt to work because he could not afford a belt. The man waited on the Lord and today he is the author of three bestselling books.  

POINT: The life of a fellow who waits on the Lord will first go down to take root, before coming up.

Bro Samuel - Reaching the world for Jesus

WHAT TO DO WHILE WAITING

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Gen 27, Matt 26, Esth 3, Acts 26

Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

There is always a waiting period between a promise and the fulfillment of the promise; planting and reaping; service and rewards; conception and delivery. There is a waiting period for everything. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven. This waiting period varies. The gestation period (conception to delivery) varies between living things. The gestation period of a woman is nine months / forty weeks while for an elephant is twenty months /eighty-eight weeks. The gestation period of a rat is between twenty-one and twenty and three days. The period between planting and reaping also varies with crops. To harvest a corn one needs to wait between two and three months; for rice it takes between three and six months and for yam it is between three and four months. This principle also applies in sowing and reaping.The waiting period between a promise and its fulfillment varies. Abraham waited for twenty-five years for the promise of a son to be fulfilled. Joseph waited for over thirteen years before his dream finally came to reality.

While waiting patience is required. Proverbs 16:32 says he that is slow to anger (i.e. patient) is better than the mighty. The lack of patience during the waiting period leads to disaster. Any attempt by a pregnant woman to give birth before her due time will result in either death or loss of the pregnancy. Abraham’s impatience led to the birth of Ishmael; at last he lost Ishmael because Sarah forced him to send him away. What an individual does during his waiting period goes a long way in deciding whether the promise will be fulfilled or not; whether there will be reaping or not ; whether there will be rewards or not. What an individual does during his waiting period plays a big role and it decides the end.During gestation period , the doctor advises that the women should eat well and exercise. While waiting we are in our gestation period ; we are pregnant with breakthroughs , bundles of joy e.t.c .During this period we are expected to feed on the word of God more and engage in spiritual exercises like fasting and praying.Not only that , she is advised to run away from certain things like cigarette and alcohol. Whilst waiting we are required to run from sin because it aborts our pregnancy.The woman is also advised to try and be active not just sit down all day and watch TV.During this time , instead of doing nothing lets get to work. In Genesis 26:1-16 God told Isaac to dwell in the land that He will bless him. Instead of Isaac to sit and wait for God’s blessing, he went to work and the bible records that he sowed in the land in the same year and reaped a hundred fold. Proverbs 14:23 says in all labor there is profit. During gestation period, the pregnant woman attends ante-natal to prepare her. Whilst waiting we also need to prepare ourselves.This preparation can be in the form of adding value to our lives through education or attending seminars.

ACTION WORD: Whilst waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promise, start working; start adding value to yourself through education.