WAIT!

      I have said recently that the most difficult answer to prayer is WAIT.  I hate waiting.  I see what I want and my first inclination is to devise plans and schemes to achieve the end result; that’s my nature.  There are strengths to my personality type, projects move ahead, plans get accomplished, and goals get checked off.  The down side is that is it is easy to move faster than God wants you to move, or move ahead without him. 

      On the other side I don’t believe that God wants us to sit idle when His word is clear as to what he wants us to do. We know that he wants us to live righteously, take care of the poor, and reach the lost.  There isn’t a need to stand around thinking, “I wonder what God wants me to do?”  Rather the question is, “How should we do these things?”  “How do we spend our resources accomplishing God’s will?”  There are so many ministries and people vying for the same resources that we have to be clear as to how God wants us to accomplish his call on the church. 

 

Our church is asking God to give us clear direction on a ministry opportunity to reach the lost in Mercer County.  It cost money and manpower, and being a small church our resources are limited.  And though I don’t buy into “fleece” theology, we are asking God to give us the resources before we start the project.  This has raised a number of questions.  Do we have faith and start, believing that God will bring in the resources as we move ahead, or have faith that God will supply the resources so that we can move ahead.  Both require faith, neither is more spiritual than the other.  We have chosen the latter. 

      This is where the difficult waiting begins.  Whenever you cast a vision for something exciting the initial enthusiasm is strong, people come on board, and resources are gathered.  There comes a point, however, where your hit a wall, where the resources you have garnered isn’t quiet what you need, and the waiting begins.  The temptation is to take the resources and move ahead with the project and justify why that would be advantageous.   I mean, there is enthusiasm when you start moving ahead, and maybe others would see and contribute more.  But doing so, when you have already laid conditions on your request to God, smacks of not having faith in what you have asked God for in the first place.

      The reason the temptation is strong is the fear that those who have come on board, in the initial push, will lose their excitement and pull out, give up, look somewhere else where something is happening.  The following verses are helping me to stay the course, 

Psa. 27:14 Wait for the LORD;

            Be strong and let your heart take courage;

            Yes, wait for the LORD.

Psa. 37:7   Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;

            Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way.

      I am committed to our initial proposition, because I believe that God will provide ahead of time what he desires us to achieve.  My prayer is that He ignites the hearts of those who might have reservations, that we gain a greater vision then ourselves, and grant us grace as we reach people in Mercer County with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I’m just saying…