Waiting on God Day 11 - Patiently

DAY 11. PATIENTLY

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Those that wait upon the Lord, they shall in-
herit the land.” —Ps. 37:7,9.

“In patience possess your souls.”14 “Ye have need of patience.”15 “Let patience have its per- fect work, that ye may be perfect and entire.”16 Such words of the Holy Spirit show us what an important element in the Christian life and character patience is. And nowhere is there a better place for cultivating or displaying it than in waiting on God. There we discover how impatient we are, and what our impatience means. We confess at times that we are impa- tient with men and circumstances that hinder us, or with ourselves and our slow progress in the Christian life. If we truly set ourselves to wait upon God, we shall find that it is with Him we are impatient, because He does not at once, or as soon as we could wish, do our bidding. It is in waiting upon God that our eyes are opened to believe in His wise and sovereign will, and to see that the sooner and the more completely we yield absolutely to it, the more surely His bless- ing can come to us.

“It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”17 We have as little power to increase or strengthen our spiritual life, as we had to originate it. We “were born not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God.”18 Even so, our willing and running, our desire and ef- fort, avail nought; all is “of God that sheweth mercy.” All the exercises of the spiritual life, our reading and praying, our willing and doing, have their very great value. But they can go no farther than this, that they point the way and prepare us in humility to look to and to depend alone upon God Himself, and in patience to wait His good time and mercy. The waiting is to teach us our absolute dependence upon God’s mighty working, and to make us in per- fect patience place ourselves at His disposal. They that wait on the Lord shall inherit the land; the promised land and its blessing. The heirs must wait; they can afford to wait.
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” The margin gives for “Rest in the Lord,” “Be silent to the Lord,” or R.V., “Be still before the Lord.” It is resting in the Lord, in His will, His promise, His faithfulness, and His love, that makes patience easy. And the resting in Him is nothing but being silent unto Him, still before Him. Having our thoughts and wishes, our fears and hopes, hushed into calm and quiet in that great peace of God which passeth all under- standing. That peace keeps the heart and mind when we are anxious for anything, because we have made our request known to Him. The rest, the silence, the stillness, and the patient waiting, all find their strength and joy in God Himself.

The needs be,19 and the reasonableness, and the blessedness of patience will be opened up to the waiting soul. Our patience will be seen to be the counterpart of God’s patience. He longs far more to bless us fully than we can desire it. But, as the husbandman has long patience till the fruit be ripe,20 so God bows Himself to our slowness and bears long with us. Let us remem- ber this, and wait patiently: of each promise and every answer to prayer the word is true: “I the Lord will hasten it in its time.”21

“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.” Yes, for HIM. Seek not only the help, the gift, thou needest; seek HIMSELF; wait FOR HIM. Give God His glory by resting in Him, by trusting him fully, by waiting patiently for Him. This patience honors Him greatly; it leaves Him, as God on the throne, to do His work; it yields self wholly into His hands. It lets God be God. If thy waiting be for some special request, wait patiently. If thy waiting be more the exercise of the spiritual life seeking to know and have more of God, wait patiently. Whether it be in the shorter specific periods of waiting, or as the continuous habit of the soul; rest in the Lord, be still before the Lord, and wait patiently. “They that wait on the Lord shall inherit the land.”

“My soul, wait thou only upon God!” 

Paratrooping in God's direction - Following the Spirit of the Lord when you're lost

The disconcerting feeling of being lost and having no idea what to do next is a typical experience of living life on earth and yet we are to be led by the Holy Spirit, a following which requires much skill, maturity and wisdom to pull off. All this is written out of my personal losses and some gains which I hope will benefit somebody.

Living this life has many similarities to being a paratrooper, a parachute solider dropped by an aircraft, sent behind enemy lines and in enemy territory to disrupt the enemy’s activities. The land is filled with ambushes and danger. People you come across may be allies or not. And most of all we are bewildered and lost most of the time, trying to navigate our way with a focus on the Kingdom of heaven whilst in a land which is ruled by the principalities and powers of the air the evil one and his dominion, until the lord reclaims all the world which is really His.

A few thoughts on following the holy spirit whilst living life.

1)   Stealth is an asset

2)   Need for courage, not to freak out because conditions are not ideal. Parachute soldiers spend most of their time being lost simply because they have no Idea where they are

3)   Need to get to know your compass and map – the word of God and the character of God so as to be composed and calm

4)   Wisdom to handle all matter of crazy situations because life, like war is messy. Expect the unexpected. Murphy’s law does happen. There are days when everything goes wrong and then some.

5)   Courage, the Guts to survive – in the midst of everything, we are the Lords operatives and agents of his kingdom.

6)   Need for constant radio contact – prayer, praying in the spirit, seeking for direction and wisdom at every step, praying for courage and strength at every juncture, coming to the lord with every new challenge and the unique need of each circumstance.

7)   Rashness is a great liability. There is a need for patience simply because making rash and wrong moves are costly could cost you your life

8)   Therefore in seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit, we need for clear, practicable instruction and growing certainty about what God is saying, what He said to us before, what He is saying now and a strong confidence He is speaking, something which is developed over time over a habit of seeking and learning to hear his voice. I have a friend who when he prays will dialogue and talk to the lord about the directions he feels that the God is leading him in, the directions, if they are from God either become clearer and more detailed, wisdom is received to do them or if they are not from God, God tells him so.

 If there is uncertainty depending on the stakes- if they are very high, it might be best to hold. Pray, seek a delay, seek for counsel and wisdom from the wise before moving ahead.

9)   Always move with wisdom if possible because if there is directive and direction, without wisdom and without the certainty which God imparts through talking to God about the issue, the mission is almost certainly doomed to failure. Lets not bar the times when God says do it and we obey and things do happen as they did happen in the scriptures.

10)   Sometimes God does lead us through the valley of the shadow of death so that we may cling tighter to him. Don’t freak out when God leads you to battle believe that He is still God and trust Him even more to lead you out of it. He did lead David to many trials and his saints also are commanded to pick up their cross. Pray for strength to go through deep suffering.

11) Seek the counsel of Godly, experienced and wise when stuck

12)  Lastly, always endeavour to obey what you strongly feel as Gods impressions completely