GOD-WAITING ON
To wait on
God is to live a life of desire toward Him, delight in Him, dependence on Him,
and devotedness to Him.
It is impossible
to describe the abundance of peace and heavenly joy that often flows into my
soul because of the answers I obtain from God after waiting on Him for help and
blessing. The longer I have had to wait on Him or the greater my need it, the
greater the enjoyment when at last the answer came.
George
Muller
The Autobiography of George Muller, 1984, p.
190. All quotations taken from books published by Whitaker House are used with
permission of the publisher. Whitaker House books are available at Christian
bookstores everywhere.
When led of the Spirit, the child of God must be as ready to wait as
to go, as prepared to be silent as to speak.
Lewis Sperry Chafer
Waiting on
God entails three elements:
1.
Complete
dependence on Him (embracing the truth of what He has just said and actively
entrusting one’s soul and circumstances to the God who does what He says He
does).
2.
Yielding
to His schedule, i.e., patiently acquiescing to the wisdom of His timing, not
ours.
3.
Seeking
God’s face, pressing in to know Him better and to love Him more.
Sam Storms
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p.102-103. www.enjoyinggodministries.com.
Used by Permission.
Waiting in
Scripture does not mean idly standing by. It is not a matter of resignation,
but of commitment to the will of God. But what are we to do when we do not know
what God wants us to do? What are we to do while we wait for the divine
timetable to run its course? The answer of biblical precept and illustration is
one. Do your duty; live in the light God has already given you. By walking in
it you will find that God will make the future path clear.
Sinclair B. Ferguson
Discovering God’s Will, By Permission of the Banner of
Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. 1991, p. 115.
Appearances
can be deceptive. The fact that we cannot see what God is doing does not mean
that He is doing nothing. The Lord has His own timetable. It is we who must
learn to adjust to it, not vice versa. When God’s time comes nothing will stand
in His way. We can therefore wait for Him with this happy confidence: “As for
God, His way is perfect” (2 Samuel 22:31).
Sinclair B. Ferguson
Discovering God’s Will, By Permission of the Banner of
Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA. 1991, p. 114.
Waiting for
God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is
not the abandonment of effort. Waiting for God means, first, activity under command;
second, readiness for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do
nothing until the command is given.
G. Campbell Morgan
Waiting for
God means power to do nothing save under command. This is not lack of power to
do anything. Waiting for God needs strength rather than weakness. It is power
to do nothing. It is the strength that holds strength in check. It is the
strength that prevents the blundering activity which is entirely false and will
make true activity impossible when the definite command comes.
G. Campbell Morgan
[To wait on God]
means to pause and soberly consider our own inadequacy and the Lord’s
all-sufficiency, and to seek counsel and help from the Lord, and to hope in Him
(Psm. 33:20-22; Isa. 8:17)… The folly of not waiting for God is that we forfeit
the blessing of having God work for us. The evil of not waiting on God is that
we oppose God’s will to exalt Himself in mercy.
John Piper
Desiring God, 1996, p. 146, Used by
Permission, www.desiringGod.org.
Waiting for the Lord in a season of darkness should not be a time
of inactivity. We should do what we can do. And doing is often God’s
appointed remedy for despair.
John Piper
Fold Not the Arms of Action taken
from When the Darkness Will Not Lift by John Piper, 2006, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton
Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org. p.
45.
God aims to
exalt Himself by working for those who wait for Him.
John Piper
The benefits
of waiting [on God] are quite numerous:
1.
Freedom
from shame (Psm. 25:3).
2.
Courage
(Psm. 27:14).
3.
Strength
(Isa. 40:31).
4.
God’s
promises (Psm. 37:9).
5.
Deliverance
from the bitter fruit of self-effort (Psm. 106:13-15; Isa. 30:15-18).
6.
Vindication
(Pro. 20:22).
7.
God’s
favor (Psm. 147:11)
8.
God’s
salvation (Lam. 3:26).
9.
God’s
support (Isa. 64:4).
Bill Thrasher
A Journey to Victorious Praying, Moody Publishers, 2003, p.
167-168.
The faith of
Christ offers no buttons to push for quick service. The new order must wait the
Lord’s own time, and that is too much for the man in a hurry. He just gives up
and becomes interested in something else.
A.W. Tozer
If the Lord
Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all
they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself
is beneficial to us: it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and
endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a
waiting people
C.H. Spurgeon
Treasury of David, Psalm 130:5.
Those who do
not hope cannot wait; but if we hope for that we see not, then
do we with patience wait for it.
C.H. Spurgeon
Treasury of David, Psalm 130:5.
Waiting has
four purposes. It practices the patience of faith. It gives time for preparation
for the coming gift. It makes the blessing the sweeter when it arrives. And it
shows the sovereignty of God – to give just when and just as He pleases.
James Vaghan
Quoted in: C.H. Spurgeon, Treasury of David, Psalm 130:5.
Working and
waiting belong together. In combination they will deliver us both from the
presumption which thinks we can do everything and from the pessimism which
thinks we can do nothing.
John
Stott
The Message of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1991,
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Used with permission of InterVarsity Press
UK, p. 42.
They that wait upon the Lord will also wait for Him.
W. Graham Scroggie
A Guide to the Psalms, Kregel, 1995, p. 267.
There is not a
more God honouring grace of the Christian character
than patience – a patient waiting on and for the Lord. It is that Christian
grace, the fruit of the Spirit, which will enable you to bear with dignity,
calmness, and submission the afflictive dealings of your Heavenly Father, the
rebuke of the world, and the wounding of the saints.
Octavius Winslow
Soul-Depths and Soul-Heights, 1874.
Waiting on
God is not in apathy and indifference; it implies intense activity.
Author
Unknown
Wait
on God and He will work, but don’t wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot
see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our spiritual
hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn
to do what we are told.
Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest.