If the truth be told
and we were being totally honest
most of us don't like waiting
particularly if we're waiting for something to change or something to get better
waiting can be a very frustrating experience but the worst kind of waiting of all
is waiting on God
when God forces you to wait for things to get better in your life
for things to improve to change to reverse and nothing is happening
and yet over and over and over and over and over again in the bible
we're told to wait on the Lord the most difficult place for you to be
in life is in God's waiting room in God's waiting room some of you are in God's waiting room right
now what is God's waiting room when you're in a hurry for something to happen and God isn't that's
God's waiting room some of you are in a hurry to graduate some of you are in a hurry to get married
some of you are in a hurry to start a family some of you are in a hurry to launch a new business
to to close a big deal some of you in a hurry for a big goal a big dream a big accomplishment
some of you are in a hurry for all kinds of different things and God isn't we as human beings
hate to wait and we especially struggle with waiting on God
have you ever been in a hurry when God wasn't and your God I know you're
going to come through and I'm praying this really Godly prayer I know it's your will
so where are you why aren't you coming through and you're in the waiting room of life
and we get so impatient we want to hurry God up and we want things right now and some of you've
been waiting for God to come through and you're about to give up and you're getting discouraged
and you realize that God's standard time is not always running on my time and it's in the
waiting rooms of life we learn to trust God the most in those difficult waiting rooms of life
that's where God grows us and builds our character the most through the pain of waiting we learn to
trust God and without faith it's impossible to please God that's when he builds our character
you see while you're working on your project your goal your dream your vision God's working on you
and God's much more interested in you than in what you're trying to accomplish
because you're not taking your accomplishments to heaven but you are taking your character
and sometimes God says yeah I intend to give you what I've promised you I intend to answer that
prayer I intend to fulfill the vision but you're not ready yet I want you to grow and when you're
ready then it's going to happen a lot of times we think we're waiting on God for something to happen
like a prayer to be answered God says you're not waiting on me I'm waiting on you I'm trying to
prepare you I'm testing your faith will you trust me but I'm also trying to grow you up because the
blessing I want to give you so much bigger than you can handle right now you're not ready for
it you can't handle it yet another thing you have to learn in life is that a delay is not a denial
there's a big difference between no and not yet now immature children don't know the difference
you tell a kid not yet they start crying and having a hissy fit because they think it means no
they don't understand a delay is not a denial God is saying I I intend to do these things in
your life that I've given you the vision the dream to do but you're just not ready yet and
at the right time I will answer your prayer God's often waiting on us now why is this important
because when you're in God's waiting room you fall temptation to all kinds of negative emotions
you start worrying you start stressing out you get anxious you get irritable you get spiritual add
you can get envious you can get jealous hey he got a promotion I didn't get the promotion
that she's having a baby I'm not having a baby she got engaged I didn't get engaged
he's starting a new business that's taken off what about mine and and all these kind of negative
emotions can come in to your life and then you get frustrated and then you start having a pity party
so what does God want you to do when you're in the waiting room of life and because you're
going to go through it many many times God is not a vending machine where you put in the prayer and
then you pull the thing and you instantly get it there's always a delay the delays are by design
the delays are by design to teach you to trust him and to grow up in your character hey a delay
is not a denial there's a big difference between no and not yet for those of your parents you
understand this there's a big difference between telling your kids no and not yet it's just not
time yet and a delay is not a denial we see it all through scriptures God told Noah to build a boat
that would save his family from a great flood but it didn't rain for 120 years God told Abraham he'd
be the father of a great nation but he didn't have his first child until he was 99 years old
God told Moses that he would lead the people out of slavery from Egypt they'd been in for
over 450 years but then God sends Moses out into the desert for 40 years to wait
God gives Joseph this great dream that he'll save his family and his people from famine and he'll
be a great leader but then Joseph gets sold into slavery he gets falsely accused and imprisoned
and he's waiting there in prison until finally God takes him from prison and positions him second in
command in all of Egypt and the promise comes true King David God had King David anointed as king
but he didn't really get to be king until years later even Jesus Christ spent his first 30 years
waiting in a carpentry shop before he started his earthly ministry see a delay is not a denial
When God delays sometimes we feel forgotten Psalm 13:1 says how long o Lord will you forget me
forever you come to a point sometimes of believing that God has forgotten you don't worry it's a
common experience we all go through it one time or another feeling that God isn't there
or at the very least he's forgotten us perhaps our problems aren't important to him we imagine
the Psalmist encounters those very doubts in Psalm chapter 10 and verse 1 here's what he says there
why do you stand afar off oh Lord why do you hide in times of trouble what you believe is that he
has given up on you you may even be feeling that way right now if so please allow me to remind you
that what you're contemplating is a simple impossibility God never gives up on you
he never ceases to care about you and he will not abandon his work on you
of which your trial is a part he even says that your name is written on the palms of his hands
your very name is tattooed on the palms of God's hands it is engraved there it cannot be removed
and such is God's concern for you he cannot forget you no matter what storm you're weathering now
you have never left God's mind or his heart yes sometimes when God delays we feel forgotten
but God never delays without a purpose he knows you he knows your heart he knows everything
you're asking him for if he's not doing what you think he should do just be patient because God
loves you don't forget he's got your name tattooed on his palm he knows who you are
he hasn't forgotten and he never will often God's timing disappoints us you know there's something
maybe something you've been praying about for a long time and you really you need an answer
you know maybe you've been praying for something really specific and you needed
God to show up within a particular time frame you know it's an urgent need and he doesn't
when God doesn't answer when you need him to I wonder what conclusions do you come to
do you think to yourself you know did I do something wrong did I ask the wrong way
do you find yourself asking does God even hear my prayers so often we think
when God doesn't answer in our way or in our time that it's because he doesn't love us God loves you
he doesn't love anybody else one grain of sand more than he loves you you know in those
darkest moments of life I want you to hear Jesus looking right through your fear and saying to you
trust me I am right here God's timing might not have been everything you hoped for in your life
but I hope you understand that you can trust the one who keeps the time clock
We don't like to trust somebody else's timing why because if we lose control
and so we'd rather then trust God because trusting God means my goodness I actually have to trust God
we'd rather go listen I like the plan and purpose you have for my life but can we do it my way
and here's the funny thing now that I'm a parent I recognize in my children that they don't like it
to wait on my timing they don't like to wait they don't like to chill and be patient but the
thing is if they would just trust my timing they would recognize it's for their good
it's for them to be blessed and prosperous and so you can live life frustrated anxious stressed out
angry or you can rest and go God I have to trust in your timing just trust his timing why because
it'll give you peace it'll give you rest and it will help you to remove all disappointment and
hurt and bitterness from your heart because you'll know actually God's in control of my life
Why didn't God just tell you everything that's going to happen in your life right up front
well I think there are two or three reasons first it would overwhelm you probably scare you to death
but the real reason God doesn't announce his timetable to you is he wants you to trust him
he says just live one day at a time trust me I I'm a good God I'm a loving God everything I do
in your life is for love but you just got to trust me in acts chapter 1 in the bible the bible says
this Jesus said in verse 7 you don't get to know the time timing is the father's business
so you're just not ever going to know stuff in advance you don't know what's going to happen
tomorrow in your life much less the rest of your life God does not tell us the details in advance
he has a timetable for your life but he doesn't tell you the details in
advance if you could understand why God does everything God does you'd be God God's timing
isn't good it's perfect because he knows all the details he knows past present future he knows what
we need what we want what's the wisest thing to do you can never go wrong waiting upon God's timing
If I'm going to wait upon God I've got to trust him because my waiting is saying I'm trusting
you God that your timing is better than mine you know what I do not know your time is always right
and so I'm going to trust you and I'm going to wait till you give me permission to go there or
do this or have that or buy the other it isn't that God's trying to deprive us of anything
he only wants what is best for us so it takes faith and what I mean by that is
simply this am I willing to trust God for his timing before I make a decision
Just imagine how amazing life would be if we could trust God all the time in every thing all the time
in every thing and trusting God means that we stop trying to make things happen ourselves
and we wait on God how many love waiting
we wait on God it's a painful word even to say it and God doesn't do it when we'd like him to or the
way we'd like him to but I can promise you today if you will keep your eyes on God and trust him
to be your recompense and to be your reward and to be your vindicator you will get double blessings
for your former trouble trusting him doesn't mean I'm going to get what I want when I want it
trusting him says I believe that when the timing is right God will provide what I'm asking him for
you know broken hearts do mend bodies do healed disappointment turns into new dreams and the end
of one thing can open the door for something new if we will just put our trust in God
you know what if you're still here on the planet God's got a plan for you
it seems to you like God's forgotten all about you well he hasn't he hears you and he sees you
can I tell you today that you're not invisible God knows exactly where you're at and he knows exactly
what's going on in your life and he knows exactly how much you can take and how much you can't take
and he may not be early but he won't be late God's timing is always perfect do I believe
that he has our best interest at heart if I believe that I'm going to wait
but watch this somebody says I don't have any time to waste you never waste time waiting on God never
you always find out that his timing is always the right time