Waiting on God

I am currently reading the book "Secrets of the Secret Place" by Bob Sorge.
I am actually walking through it with a friend.
This morning as we were discussing the book we talked about the chapter called, "The Secret of Waiting on God."
Sorge says, "Waiting on God may be the most difficult of all the spiritual disciplines, and perhaps that's the reason so few truly practice it." He goes on to say, "We lack the attention span to wait on God."

This got me to thinking. How often do I get tired of waiting on God?
How many times have I missed what God had instore because I got tired of waiting.

Waiting seems so unproductive. Waiting is hard! Waiting means I have no control over what is happening!

As I pondered these thoughts about waiting, I began singing the song we used to sing in our churches based on Isaiah 40:31.

They that wait upon the Lord
Shall renew their strength
They shall mount up with wings, as eagles
They shall run and not be weary
They shall walk and not faint
Teach me Lord, Teach me Lord, to wait

That last line got me. We sing and pray, "Teach me Lord to wait." And yet we often grow tired of waiting.

The past few years I have been waiting on God. I've been waiting so long, that now people give me a weird look when they ask how things are going and I reply, "I'm waiting on God."
People's response to my reply started becoming frustrating.
This was just another lesson God was teaching me.

People do not understand waiting on God because most people think they don't have time to wait on God. Why? Because most people are busy trying to figure life out on their own.

Several years ago, the Lord reminded me that I am just a passenger in this thing we call Life. He is the driver. He is the one in control. My responsibility is to wait upon Him.

Bob Sorge wrote, "Waiting on God is so powerful that the enemy will do everything in his power to dissuade you from maintaining your watch. Even though you may wait on God for many years, there is a day coming when God will change everything in a moment."

So how do we learn to wait on God?
First we must learn to value time in His presence over working for Him.
Second we must focus on what He has promised, knowing that at any moment God will change everything.

So many people are in a hurry. In a hurry for a lot of things. We want things to happen yesterday!
But there is a spiritual discipline we must value. Learn to wait on God.

Waiting on God puts Him in control and allows us to know Him more intimately then we ever dreamed we could know Him.

STOP THE HOP by Steven Furtick

This is a great post from Steven Furtick. Decided to share his thoughts!

All Content Copyright © 2014 Steven Furtick

STOP THE HOP

May 2nd, 2014

One of the things that really troubles me about the church today is the phenomenon of church hopping and church shopping. It’s a consumeristic mindset towards the body of Christ that grieves the heart of God.

It’s time for us to stop the hop. This isn’t Christianity. Jesus didn’t die so we could sample different churches like varieties of meat on a party platter. Jesus died to establish His church as the most powerful entity on the planet.

We are alive at the greatest time in history for the advance of the gospel. We have so much going for us.

We have the ability.
We have the resources.
We have the people.

What we don’t have is them committed to a place where they can actually be used for their God-ordained purpose.

If this generation doesn’t make the impact it should, it won’t be because it didn’t have the resources. Or even the passion. It will be because it was too busy hopping to different churches to stop and commit to one where its resources and passion could actually find an outlet.

The church is the change the world is waiting for. God help us if we keep the world waiting for us while we try to find the perfect church for us.

If you’ve fallen into the trap of church hopping, let me encourage you: embrace your place somewhere where God can use you. At the end of your life, God’s not going to be impressed or pleased that you saw what He was doing at ten different churches. He’s going be more pleased that you were a part of what He was doing at one church.

And you’re never going to find the perfect one, so give up looking. If the church you’re visiting doesn’t have what you’re looking for, it might be because God wants you to provide it.

Let’s all commit together to begin a campaign to stop the hop.
Find a place to get planted. Embrace it. And start changing the world.

The question of our day isn’t if God wants to do incredible things through the church. The question is will we be in place to experience it?

All Content Copyright © 2014 Steven Furtick