"Waiting" on God is Not Boring as We Abide in Him

This devotion reminds me of the importance of abiding in Jesus in His peace. He keeps us there--seeking after Him, enjoying Him through obedience and Bible study--as He moves us out to do His will for our lives. I experience deep joy as I abide in Him, even through sad seasons when He has not seen fit to give me something for which I have asked. He has a set time for all things in His sovereign plan, and we can rest in His guidance for every season. He does not follow me; I follow Him. He continues to show me that when He takes something or someone away, it is for my protection. In time, I can see just how deeply He loves me by NOT giving me everything for which I have 'waited' and for which I have prayed. I can certainly trust that He has the BEST plan for me, as I look back and see how He has protected me while I was praying and 'waiting.' With every year that passes I feel more fulfilled in my relationship with God, lacking in nothing. --Dwayna

December 9
The Lord waits to be gracious to you. (Isaiah 30:18 ESV)

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

God often delays in answering prayer, and there are several instances of this in sacred Scripture. For example, Jacob had to wait all night for a blessing from the Lord, for God "wrestled with him till daybreak" (Gen. 32:24). Jesus did not immediately answer the plea of the woman of Syrian Phoenicia, "whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit" (Mark 7:25). "Three times [Paul] pleaded with the Lord to take...away" his "thorn in the flesh," (2 Cor. 12:7-8), but never received any assurance it would happen. Instead, he was given this promise from the Lord: "My grace is sufficient for you" (v. 9).

If you have been knocking at God's gate of mercy but have not received an answer, do you believe I can tell you why the all-powerful Creator has not opened the door and let you enter? I cannot, for our Father has reasons for keeping us waiting that are all His own. Sometimes it is to demonstrate His power and sovereignty, so people will know Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold. Yet more often than not it is for our own benefit. Perhaps you have been kept waiting in order that your desires would become more passionate. God knows His delay will enliven and increase your desire, and that if He keeps you waiting you will see your needs more clearly and will seek an answer more earnestly, and that ultimately you will value His mercy even more after having waited for it. There may also be some error in you needing to be removed before "the joy of the Lord" (Neh. 8:10) is given to you. Perhaps your understanding of the gospel plan is confused, or perhaps you have been relying too much on yourself instead of trusting simply and completely on the Lord Jesus. Or finally, perhaps God is requiring you to wait a while, so He may more fully "show [you] the incomparable riches of his grace" (Eph. 2:7).

All your prayers are filed in heaven, and although they may not be answered immediately, they certainly are not forgotten, for in just a little while they will be fulfilled to your complete delight and satisfaction. Therefore, never allow despair to cause you to become silent, but remain earnest and "faithful in prayer" (Rom. 12:12).

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

In today's society we have been ingrained with the idea of doing, thus waiting is one of the most difficult things we are asked to do. Ask us to do anything but wait! Yet waiting is a discipline every disciple of Jesus must learn.

Remember the words of Habakkuk, a prophet of God who understood the concept of waiting: "I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. Then the LORD replied: 'Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay'" (Hab. 2:1-3).

Before you begin your day of "doing," take time to consider as well these words of David, another man who knew what it meant to wait: "I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD" (Ps. 27:13-14).