“Whoever believes will not act hastily” 

—Isaiah 28:16

“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him” 

—Isaiah 64:4 

“Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” 

—Psalm 27:14

“The closer you get to God, the more you realize He’s in no hurry. There is no frenetic hurrying in heaven, only calculated purpose. Those who step into God’s time zone will not allow urgent matters to press them into acting too quickly and getting ahead of God. 

“One of the best descriptions of waiting on God is found in Psalm 123:2, ‘Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until He has mercy on us.’ To wait on God is to stare at His hand. We stare at His hand for two primary reasons: to serve and minister to Him in whatever way His hand might signal us to fulfill; and to wait until He moves His mighty hand on our behalf. 

“Waiting on God may be the most difficult of all the spiritual disciplines, and perhaps that’s the reason so few truly practice it. Just sitting in His presence and gazing…it can be agonizing to us who have become accustomed to being bombarded with data and stimuli. We lack the attention span to wait on God. 

“To wait on God successfully, we must come to derive more fulfillment by being with Him than by working for Him. When being with Him fully satisfies us, we can wait for as long as necessary—just as long as He stays with us. This is why Jesus could wait to minister until He was thirty. 

“Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him” —Isaiah 30:18 

“God is strategically delaying His miraculous visitation because He has greater things in store for you than you’ve even asked for. But to give you the fullness of what He has planned for your life, He will use the season of waiting to prepare you as a vessel, and also to prepare circumstances around your life so that you will be able to step forward into the proper sphere when His release comes to you. He’s waiting so that He can crown you with an even greater blessing. 

“Waiting on God is so powerful that the enemy will do everything in His power to dissuade you from maintaining your watch. He will tell you that you’re insane to keep waiting on God in the midst of your pressing circumstances. He’ll tell you that waiting on God is changing nothing. But those who know the ways of God are aware of Joseph’s testimony: Even though you may wait on God for many years, there is a day coming when God will change everything in a moment of time! He may take seemingly forever to get around to it, but once God moves, He can change everything in a day. 

“One of the greatest incentives of waiting on God is found in Psalm 104:4, ‘Who makes…His ministers a flame of fire.’…And here’s what God does with His ministers who wait on Him: He makes them a flame of fire! He ignites them with the passions of His heart and enflames them with zeal for His face and for His kingdom. 

“God is setting you ablaze with His fiery passions in this hour in order that you might wait upon Him in holy passion and fiery ecstasy.”—Bob Sorge 

 My Prayer

“Dear Lord, many times, I am so impatient with myself and with You, simply because I don’t understand the purposes in Your delays. But thank You Lord for reminding me again—that every delay with You is simply a preparation for something better. Teach me Lord, to wait patiently, and to wait in faith. Through the seasons of waiting, I know You are forming me and preparing me for a better work ahead, even as I grow in this discipline of the secret place. Oh Lord, forgive me when I have gone ahead of You and done things without looking first at Your leading. I am sorry. This has happened so many times, but by Your grace, it will not happen again. I commit myself to rest and to wait in You. I know that my passions for You will increase if only I grow in the discipline of waiting. Make me a flaming fire for Your kingdom as I wait, Lord. Lord, I will wait for You to move and when You do, all the time of waiting would have been worth it. I want to be like You Jesus. You had the fullness of the Godhead bodily and You could have started ministry earlier—but You still waited 30 years. Wow! Deliver me for that inner compulsion to act when heaven has not given the green light. Deliver me Lord, and grace me to wait. In Your name I pray. Amen.”

The Challenge

Have you sensed the urge to do things when deep within you, you know you should have waited? Do you know how God speaks with you so that you may understand His instructions when He sends them? Commit afresh today to slow down and learn to wait for His word and His leading, before making any major (or minor) decision. Amen.