Power Of Waiting

 Key Scripture: "That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother.  We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become,and the more joyful our expectancy." Romans 8:23-25, The Message

Power Point:

     WAITING.  I'm not fond of it.  Waiting is hard work. I've gotten better at it over the years, but then I've had a lot of practice.

     When I was first married, and I was waiting for the most important person in my life to come home from work, I would stand by the window waiting with great anticipation.  Everything else seemed unimportant compared to his coming home.

     Over the years there have been wonderful times of waiting-as when the clock was winding down on my pregnancies and I knew that at any moment that precious child would appear.  There have been times when the situations were not GOOD situations; waiting for a loved one to make their way to heaven; waiting for a relationship to be restored; waiting for hearts to change or healing to come.  Learning to wait is a key part of the kingdom of God. In fact, God uses that term a lot!

      Wait on The Lord.  Be of good courage. And He shall strengthen your heart.  WAIT on HIM!  Psalm 27:13

      No one who waits on The Lord will not be ashamed. Psalm 25:3

      Rest in The Lord and wait patiently for Him.  Psalm 37:7

   I think that the word for "WAIT" should be in capital letters!

  We tend to think of waiting as a passive thing like simply sitting in a chair.  "WAIT" in Hebrew means a very active and violent action, like picking something up and throwing it against a wall. It literally means to be twisted and turned and tied in knots.  God thinks that the waiting is the time when His best work is being done in us.   It is in the waiting for answers that we are desperate for Him.  It is in the waiting that faith and patience are formed. What we consider a means to an end, He considers the important part of the journey.

    You may find yourself in the WAITING part of your life today. There is absolutely nothing that you can do to change anything and so you can either tie yourself up in knots of doubt, fear or unbelief or you can be just as determined to wait patiently on the Lord. In the waiting, you firm up your faith, you learn to stand strong and you allow God to give you a whole new vision of Himself.  You can be enlarged in the waiting or you can shrink. The outcome of being enlarged means that you will not be ashamed of waiting on Him, and He will strengthen you to persevere. You'll be bigger in the end than you were in the beginning.  The outcome of shrinking back or timidly hiding in a corner until the problem passes by, is that it gives God nothing to work with. Refusing to declare what you know in the face of what you see causes you to shrink.  Actively waiting and violently waiting is what brings you peace in the WAITING. Sometimes that means an active battle and sometimes that battle is learning to REST in Who your God is, and in what He has promised you. That is what faith is after all isn't it?

     I pray that this pregnancy of your promises will cause you to be enlarged until the perfect time of their delivery.  What a GLORIOUS day that will be!

 I love what Max Lucado said, in  "He Took The Nails".

"Now even that after three days in a dark hole he (Jesus) stepped into the Easter sunrise with a smile and a swagger and a question for the lowly Lucifer–”Is that your best punch?"

God has never lost a wrestling match with Satan.

    In the words of the song, "Our God", by Christ Tomlin, it says:

If our God is for us than who could ever stop us-

If our God is with us than who could stand against?

WAITING is hard work but it will be worth the WAIT!

Power Thought:

Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about Him for whom we are waiting. 

Henri Nouwen

OUR GOD:  Chris Tomlin

http://youtu.be/NJpt1hSYf2o