Waiting on God's Will

One of the hardest things can be waiting on God for His timing. We live in a culture where we want what we want when we want it. Also, we want the whole plan lain out before us before we start anything. But God asks us to wait on Him (Psalms 123:2; 130:6; Isaiah 40:28-31; Jeremiah 14:22). It seems to be God’s plan that He leads us step by step and makes us wait for His perfect timing. Abraham was called by God to inherit a land neither he nor his immediate descendents were able to actually claim. 

Moses thought he knew what needed to be done and tried to deliver his people from slavery and failed, and had to wait forty years till God appeared to him and enabled him to do the job God’s way. David was anointed king of Israel and then spent many years running from Saul before he was put in as king. Elijah was fed at a brook by ravens until the brook dried up and he was sent to a widow woman among the Gentiles to be provided for there. Paul was saved and called to be an apostle, but spent a number of years waiting before he actually set out to do the work.

This all fits in very well with my own life. There have been times I have felt I knew exactly what God wanted me to do. I remember walking into a church for the first time and hearing the pastor say, “We need someone to be in charge of Sunday School and I’m not going to do it. But maybe there’s someone who just walked in the door to do this job.” And I felt God tap me on the shoulder and say, “You’re the one.” There have been many more times when I have wondered what God was doing with my life. And times I was left bewildered, wondering what to do next. I remember being unemployed and repeatedly praying to God for guidance and getting no clear answer, and it took several months for me to find the job I ended up sticking with. But God has always brought me through. Now I am 61 years old and dying of cancer if God does not work a miracle, and I still not sure about why God has led me the places He has.

I would therefore make the following suggestions for waiting on the Lord, especially in difficult or perplexing times. Trust in God, even if you do not see how the present situation will work out (Proverbs 3:5, 6). Understand that God has a plan for your life and things He wants you to do, even if you are not sure what they are (Ephesians 2:10). Serve God where you are at and take advantage of the opportunities you are given to do so (Galatians 6:9,10). But, most of all, we should remember that God will bring about His plan in His own time, on His own schedule (Habakkuk 2:2, 3).