Most if not all people have to wait for something or someone at some point in their lives. Thinking about people in the Bible, who might stick out to you as someone who had to wait and how long? You might say the Israelites wondering for 40 years in the wilderness, waiting to arrive in the Promised Land, and you’d be correct—that definitely was a long wait. Maybe you said Martha and Mary as they waited for Jesus to come and heal their brother Lazarus—Jesus waited three days before going to them. Then there was the whole scenario at the well when Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman—then He waited for her to go to the city and return. Have I whet your appetite? Grab your Bible and go searching for others who waited.
“So they took away the stone.
Then Jesus looked up and said,
“Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
I knew that you always hear me,
but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here,
that they may believe that you sent me.”
John 11:41-42, NIV
Purpose. What can we learn from those who waited? Let’s take the wondering Israelites first. Why did they have to wait to enter the Promised Land? Well, we see they complained (We do that, too, right? Look out!), argued (Us, too?), disobeyed (gulp), and eventually God had enough and caused them to wonder for 40 years until that generation died out. What was God’s purpose with that? We don’t know the total mind of God, but it looks like He wanted to clean house of all the bad attitudes and actions before they arrived in the Promised Land. Sometimes our time of waiting is also to make sure we are on the right track and free of sin before He shows us the next step.
A friend and I had climbed a mountain trail and almost got lost because we came upon a meadow of tall grass and didn’t see where the path went from there. When we first found where the trail picked up again, it looked like it was straight down and we both looked at each other, not sure if we wanted to try it or go back the way we came which had its own challenges. We were running out of time so I finally started down to see how it was and quickly discovered that it zig-zagged back and forth going down the mountain and wasn’t that bad except for loose gravel that made it easy to lose footing. I waited for my friend to catch up with me and we traversed the trail downward together.
The obvious delay in the story of Lazarus was so that Jesus could perform the miracle of resurrection. If Jesus had merely healed Lazarus, the people would have only thought of Jesus as a healer. Jesus had a plan, and His plan could only be completed if Lazarus had died. The resurrection of Lazarus from the dead was a much bigger deal that got people’s attention.
The woman at the well listened to Jesus who was waiting for His disciples to return with food. After speaking with her, Jesus could have disappeared as at other times, but He waited. Why? Besides waiting for the return of His disciples, I think He was waiting to see what she would do with what she heard. Would she go back and tell the others what happened and Who she met? Then would she return with them to the well?
Preparation. We have mentioned some things we can do during waiting times that will help the time to be productive, but now let’s look at some of the ways that God can use times of waiting. Preparation is a big one. We may not be ready for the next step in His plan for us and so we find ourselves still waiting. Pray and prepare for what God might be showing you or where you think the next step might be leading you. If we pray and prepare, it will get us a lot further along than wasting the time on insignificant things.
Pressure. Don’t strive to do things your own way. Don’t put pressure on God to hurry things along. Forcing things to happen often boomerangs and fails. It’s kind of like shaking up a soda bottle and then trying to open it without fizz going all over everything. On the other hand a certain amount of pressure is sometimes helpful like putting pressure on a wound that is bleeding. It stops the bleeding from getting worse. Use a good kind of pressure called prayer!
Prayer. Don’t give up praying when you don’t see answers. Pray faithfully by bringing your request to God, but let the response to Him. He knows better than any suggestion we could give Him what the best answer is.
Tomorrow we’ll talk about the anxiety that comes along with waiting.
PRAYER POINT FOR TODAY:
Lord, show me how to best make use of my time of waiting until You bring the answer to my prayers.
- Week 1 – temptation
- Week 2 – confession, forgiveness, and fasting
- Week 3 – listening to God and answering when He calls
- Week 4 – God’s love for us
- Week 5 – waiting, anxiety, and trust
- Week 6 – suffering (W), pain (T), and struggles (F-S), rejoicing (Palm Sunday), Trials (M-T-W), Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Silent Saturday
- Easter – resurrection and salvation