Greetings again my Brethren. let us continue to look at some more of the benefits of waiting on God. In the last two months we have looked at how God exceeds all of our natural expectations and last month we looked at how it gives God an opportunity to demonstrate His goodness. How valuable is the goodness of the LORD? Well how long are you willing to wait on the LORD? Our value system can be measured in our discomfort levels. Are we willing to suffer discomfort awhile to hear from God? At the willingness to experience discomfort tells us just how valuable we think things are in God. so this month we will look at another benefit. In Psalms 40 we read, “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay,and set my feet upon a rock, andestablished my goings. 3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, evenpraise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.” (Psalms 40:1-3)Waiting is always the place of receiving from God. Here David needed to hear from God so he patiently waited. Waiting patiently is the place of hearing an answer to our petitions for deliverance or whatsoever we need to hear from God. It is not working or doing, but patiently waiting. Now this is strange to the natural or carnal man within us. We have been told from childhood to go and “make it happen” but, the spiritual man within us knows to take a seat and patiently wait for God to align and arrange things for our benefit. Now it is the things God arranges for us that makes our waiting hard. But that is okay. Our way is not to be easy and straight. And yes God does go ahead of us not to straighten out the crooked places and bends in the road, but to make our way a meaningful learning experience where we will learn of Him and not worry about needing to be delivered from problems in our lives. Hard times are coming our way you can bet on that. In John Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Did you get that? In this world you shall (strongest tense of the verb) have tribulation (Jesus will make it so), but “be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.” There are lessons we must learn that will enable us to learn the set of lessons God has for us to continue “to grow in the grace and knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ.” Our spiritual growth and development starts not with doing things, but with patiently waiting on God.Here in Psalms 40 we see David was in a huge mess. David was in a horrible pit now that could have been a pit in the ground, but probably not. David probably was in a horrible pit maybe depression he was stuck like his feet planted in miry clay. When I read this I think of the deep red Georgia clay that sticks to everything and sticks everything up. I can just see David standing in the clay and not being able to move, but probably not. David was probably stuck in a situation (maybe a bad relationship) or circumstance where he could not move stuck, but because David patiently waited (we can too) God inclined or turned His ear toward David and heard David’s cry and did two things: “set his feet on a rock”and “established my goings.” God did not just deliver him oh no, when we patiently wait God will put us on a solid foundation so He can establish our goings. Probably God worked out the bad situation, circumstance, etc. in David’s life and now David has a new outlook on life and a new song in his mouth. Yes David was singing a new and different tune. Funny how we sing a new tune when God moves on our behalf? What a benefit for us both physically and most importantly spiritually when God turns His ear towards us and develops us not delivers us. Nowhere in the Bible did God ever deliver someone oh no in their development they were quote unquote delivered, but in reality God changed their heart and it did not matter what happened. Daniel went into the lion’s den. The three Hebrew children went into the fiery furnace. Jesus went to the cross all not delivered, but developed. If God has to deliver us from bad situations and circumstances in our lives then He knows the plan He has for our lives is in jeopardy of being lost. If God has to keep delivering us from things we have not won we have failed.
Next month we will continue to look at another benefit of waiting on God. Walter Beuttler said if you build God a temple He will inhabit it. Have you built God a temple? If you do He will abide and wait for you.
