The Art of Waiting

Preached by Ps Jude Blayney

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Isaiah 40:28-31

Have you not heard? Have you not known?
The everlasting God, the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might he increases strength,
Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,
But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.

Luke 24:49
But tarry (Wait) in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high

Acts 1:4
".. but to wait for the promise of the Father."

"Those who wait"

Today I am going to speak about the 'art of waiting'. The body of Christ needs this art for it to function with clarity and fruitfulness. IN such a fast paced world, filled with a variety of ways to communicate, we have somehow lost our way concerning the 'art of waiting'. So what is waiting in the Lord and How can we do it?

Some people see this as just intercession, or even just the abode of those who are called to be intercessors. But this is not true. We are all told to 'wait'. This scripture along with Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4 clearly ask us all to wait. It is not limited to preachers or those pursuing ministry, it is aimed at every Christian. Some may even say that this art is in fact just concerning the fruit of the spirit, patience. But waiting on the Lord is not about patience. Patience is different to waiting. Patience requires us to become inactive or at very least less active almost like marching time, allowing time to pass. It does not have a goal in mind its goal is itself or just simply the passing of time. Waiting on the Lord is not just a patience developing tool used by God to strengthen our character. When we wait something takes place. It is like a spiritual transaction between you and God. This transaction will change your life, your destiny and affect countless people and even future generations. What is it about waiting that draws us to have a closer look?

What it's not!

• not just major intercession,
• praying in tongues for hours on end,
• praying and fasting for hours on the trot, this is not some formula for serving God a particular way.
• It is not for some exclusive club of intercessors. You don't need to be a certain type of person with a certain gift for this to occur.
• Not just the domain of the spiritual.
• Not holding your temper or emotions in check.

Wait - by definition means to pause, to stop, to cease from striving, to relax, and chill out in a state of longing for something to happen. It's a temporary stop as if expecting something to happen.

Thus waiting signifies a sense of expectation, faith even curiosity.
There is no specified time - it could be different for each person but it will come because it signifies the expectancy of something; it points to the promise of fulfilment.

WAIT is Wait!

'On the Lord' - this points to a specific place. We don''t wait for nothing. We are expecting something to come. Waiting is centred around the Lord. Its' axis of spin is faith. Without faith, without hope we can not wait. If we are waiting without hope or faith, we are merely taking a rest break. Having a cat nap. When we wait we wait for something. We wait for our promise in God to come. It is not just resting. Some Christians confuse Waiting with resting. Resting is inactive while waiting is active because its foundation is faith.

What then is 'Waiting on the Lord'
Spending some time in a place where we connect with God.

Some have called this a 'quiet time', devotional time, time aside with God or even just hearing from God. Waiting is all these things are more. It is more because it has an expectation attached to it.

Waiting places our soul under the subjection of our spirit. Thus it harnesses the troubles, it puts a 'bit' on our anguish. It places all our troubles in a specific place.

Let's have a closer look at the Art of Waiting.

The Art of Waiting

The art of waiting has been lost in the ever increasing fast paced society.

• The plethora of equipment to speed up and simplify communication may have simplified communication but it causes us to communicate more widely with less intimacy.
  • The Phone, fax, internet, mobile phone, text messages, cable tv have replaced the radio, lights, even flags.
• Society is so transfixed on increasing the speed and access of information that it has changed the concept of communication from creation to information access. When God first communicated He created. He did not just give information He created the heavens and the earth.
• With more information becomes a greater demand on our time and thus waiting is given a lower priority.
• Once communication becomes predominantly information, creativity will get stifled.

The Art of waiting is seemingly fruitless due to the increased desire for knowledge over revelation.

• It is said that 'Knowledge is power'
• Lets look at 2 Timothy 3:1-7
  • Verse 7 'Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.' This is equivalent to having a form of godliness but no power attached to it. When you look at the first five verses it doesn't look Godly at all. So what is Paul talking about. There is a form of godliness that looks godly because it shows all the traits of godliness. How is this so? Let me explain. When we have information about things we are able to react to the world differently. For instance, if we hear about a need or a great tragedy we give something to help out. This is good, but it is not the sign of true godliness. It's an information produced godliness but it lacks the real power of revelation. True Godliness is not based around your ability but around faith.
  • Knowledge is not power but knowledge of the truth is power

God has placed into the fabric of our soul a desire for peace, security, serenity, quietness - this is a truth. When we understand the truth it sets us free. It gives us power. It empowers us to do things we are normally incapable of doing.

• Abundance of resorts, retreats and shops which attempt to point us to quietness and serenity. Man wants to wait. He knows the need to wait. He seeks the peace the truth. He is curious for knowledge of the truth. He wants to wait. But let's not forget if he is waiting without faith he is just resting.

The Art of Waiting - Part 2

Isaiah 40:28-31

Waiting does some things.

• If information or access to more information stifles creativity because it limits communication then the art of waiting increases creativity.
• Lifts people.
  • Looking back at Isaiah 40:31 it says that those who wait will 'mount up with wings like eagles'.
  • There comes lifting up when we wait. Waiting encourages people it gives a new perspective about life. It lifts us up to place where we can see the situation from a bigger angle.
    
    
  • It lifts, it rises, it causes us to be lifted. Feeling down in the dump then learn, practice and appreciate the art of waiting.
  
  
  
• Enables people to catch the warm currents of lift that naturally exist.
  • Eagle's wings are made to enable the eagle to catch the updrafts and soar higher. Isaiah 40:31 'will mount with wings like eagles'. The analogy is significant. When we wait on the Lord we receive an ability we don't normally have. The ability to perceive and catch a lift.
  • As Christians, waiting gives us the ability to catch the thermal currents of the Holy Spirit. Often within times of worship an updraft comes into the service or worship time. As we just go with the flow we feel lifted up to new places. It gives us a lifting feeling. Something changes and we feel lifted. When we receive revelation about something from God it's like being lifted. Something lifts us to a new level. Waiting puts us in a place of receiving the updrafts.
    
    
  • When Eagles lift off the ground they look around and look for the conditions that will lift them up. Cloud formations are hints of lift or warm currents rising. I have been told that when a hang-glider jumps off the mountain and begins to glide they look for the up drafts. When they find those updrafts they just simply slip into the draft and fly around, in one vicinity, being lifted up without any effort or their part other than being in the right place and the right time.
  
  
  
• Empowers Vision
  • Looking again at Isaiah 40:31 it states that 'they shall run and not be weary'. Emphasis mine
    
    
  • In Habbakuk 2 we see God talking to us about visions. In verse 2 it says 'that he may run who reads it.' It goes on to say that we should wait for it. Here is a direct correlation between running and waiting and it surrounds the vision. Running thus is linked with vision. When we wait we empower vision and give ourselves the much needed ability to run with the vision. Waiting empowers the vision to come to pass.
    
    
  • Waiting gives us strength to follow the vision right until its completion. We don't get tied from vision.
  
  
  
• Refreshes your daily walk with God.
  • Isaiah 40:31 says they shall 'walk and not faint'.
    
    
  • Walking along way can be a grind. We can become weary towards the everyday sameness of our lives. We become bored with the everyday mundane things in our lives. The daily grind is the daily grind. We grow faint about our lives.
    
    
  • Waiting refreshes us. It gives us new perspective, new hope, new strength. We feel like we can continue. Whenever we get fresh revelation about something we feel envigorated by the revelation. It's the same when we get into a worship time that seems to lifts us up. We feel invigorated. Refreshed. Waiting gives us a vitamin boost into our soul from our spirit. Its like taking a vitamin B for your soul. It gives it a boost. The result is an inner strength to keep going. We do not faint.
  
  
• Conversely those who don't develop the art of waiting will feel faint.
  • The Christian life becomes a drag.
  • The Christian life becomes burdensome.
  • The Christian life becomes boring.
  • The Christian life becomes obsolete.
  • The Christian life becomes absolute.
  • The Christian life becomes stale.
  
  
  

The result of all this is that Christians tend to fall away easier. They get worried about pressure and feel like a failure under the pressure. God did not send Jesus so that we could be a failure. God did not send Jesus to die for us, endure such pain and beatings for us to walk around with a 'woe is me attitude'. You are not a failure; you are a child of the living God who is destined for good works in Him.

When we learn the art of waiting we learn to release our latent potential.

Waiting release potential. This is an oxymoron. It seems like we must work harder, try more, but God wants us to just wait with expectation on His ability to come through. 'Though it tarry (wait) it will come to pass.' When God says something about you in his word it is truth and it does come to those who wait.

There is no set formula for waiting just some things I have learned over time to help me with waiting. These principles are simply guidelines not legal requirements for action. God is not disposed to legalism for those who choose to walk by grace. Grace is not legal. What works for one, in the area of waiting, may work for another, but the principles of waiting remain the same.

The Art of Waiting - How to

1. Develop/choose a place
a. Must be a physical place
  i. E.g. the beach, study, Bush walk, Campfire, Patio, backyard, forest, café, a particular chair in your home, are examples of a few.
b. A place without distractions or interruptions
c. Suggested minimal outside influence
  i. E.g. phone, fax, TV, text message. Turn the phone off. It can wait. It won't kill you. The communication will still be there when you are finished.
  ii. Close the door - it's okay to shut out some outside influences. When you do that you give your time of waiting a high priority.
d. You need to invest time in this. Sometimes choosing a place may in itself be a journey. Don't fret, just try out a few. How you tick, is vital to the success of the place for waiting that you choose. Some people connect with God through, technology, while others connect with God through nature or one of there senses. Music can be a good medium for helping to facilitate that choose.

2. Develop/choose a style.
a. All people are different. We have different mannerisms, we are wired differently. What style works for one, may and probably wont work for another.
b. Examples of style
  i. Sitting and Reading - reading the bible
  ii. Sitting and listening - hearing the word of God or a sermon
  iii. Sitting and Doing - painting, drawing playing an instrument
  iv. Walking and Doing -
  v. Walking and listening - walking through creation.

3. Develop/choose a pattern
a. How often it is to happen - this can vary from person to person.
b. Make it regular
  i. You need to discipline yourself.
  ii. Don't let life nor your personality strangle your wait time.
c. Its like taking vitamins, if you take them regularly them they work better.
d. Remember those who wait can create.

4. Develop/choose a medium.
a. Suggestions include pad, exercise book, bible are minimum.
b. Drawing pad, paint and canvas
c. Your musical instrument
d. Tape recorder??

How do you wait when stuff in life demands of you?

Connecting with God in a storm - events that could destroy your life.

• Matthew 8:23-27 Jesus was asleep in the boat while a storm raged.
• Examples of Storms: bankruptcy or serious financial hardship, Cancer or any serious life threatening or life destroying illness, in a war zone physically.

• How to connect with God in the Storm? SPEAK.
• Jesus expected the disciples to change their own situation.

Connecting with God in the wind. - Events that disrupt your vision/goals.

• 1 Kings 14:11 Elijah heard God in the still small voice
• Examples of 'wind related events': Loss of Job, Loss of Loved one, Loss of friendship, Lack of finances, You cant do something when you wanted too, being in a war zone spiritually.

• How to connect with God in the Wind? Be STILL.
• If God has given the vision it will come to pass. Still your heart by reminding yourself of God's promise to you.

Connecting with God in the rain - Events that seem to wreck your day.

• Matthew 7:25 the rain came first.
• Examples of Rain related events: an appliance breaks, something wont work, Something wont work the way it is supposed to work, your child gets sick, your child/partner has a bad day at work, your footy team looses, Finances run low, you leave something at home or at work.

• How to Connect with God in the Rain? STOP.
• One day is not a big deal in your life. So STOP!

Go to your God space.

1. Stop
2. Think of a time in your life when God spoke to you strongly.
3. Remember that time
4. Lord I thank you for the same faith that was back there is here now.

Isaiah 40:31

"Those who wait on the Lord shall."

Get ready for an adventure, a journey. God wants to talk with you. He wants you to wait on Him. He wants to endure you with power from on High. He desires to spend some time with you and help you release your potential. God wants you to wait.