Wait for God

Winter sunset in Missouri forest  

Some would say take courage. But how do you take courage? Ps 27:14 Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage, yes wait for the Lord.

Waiting for the Lord is the way to let your heart take courage.
Ps 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord and He inclined to me and heard my cry.

Waiting involves crying out to God.

Waiting patiently signifies that He does not always answer instantly.

Living with right attitude means living with an attitude of waiting!
What does living with an attitude of waiting consist of? Having an expectancy! Saying, "What is God going to do?"

James 4:7-11 Crying out to God and humbling yourself before Him. Is a way to seek Him. I am doing it in the truck while I drive. I want to have my mind on Him all the time. Or to put it another way, put my mind towards Him each moment that is available. There are times for mourning before Him, and then there are times of being thankful. I will go with what I sense.

Submit therefore to God. Be ready to obey. Why wait for God if you aren't going to do what He says? There is strength in obedience. Obedience can move us into love.

Forests wait for spring before springing into growth. The conditions must be right for them to start. Our waiting before God will give us the conditions for growth. If a tree puts out growth too soon those new shoots will die back in late frosts. If we start before God's ability our works will be cut back. Waiting seems to be a waste of time but with wisdom we learn it's worth.

For many the place of waiting would be going to church often. For others with more growth, it would be times of quietness before God.

Woods after a snow. Quiet, a few birds flew through trees. All quiet in the forest. Forest waits for spring. The randomness of tree branches. All buttoned up for winter.

There is one thing about waiting on the Lord, you never know when or how He is going to show up. I was sitting in my work truck doing paperwork. A resident asked me if I would clear his street of leaves. I did it for him and that is all I needed to fix my plow. It was not raising up like it should after a recent snow. It saved me from taking it to the shop for repair. A simple solution of driving with the plow down caused the hydrophilics to work. I think God sent that man to request help to disclose the simple solution I needed.

What was I doing? Going about my normal day. I hadn't even prayed about the problem. But I was in prayer.

If I don't set a time to seek God then it is passed by. For me one of the best times to seek God is after family devotions. Many would suggest early in the morning. For me, Being awake and getting ready for work hinder my time to seek God.

Hiked to Hidden Valley outlook. Why am I here? I am here because I need God? If God gave me strength I wouldn't be here seeking Him. Why then should He give me strength? I need to obey God before I can expect His strength!

Walking along a soggy trail from melting snow, my boot slipped in the mud scarring the ground. Scarred ground in the winter will stay scarred until growth comes to heal it. Wait on God, for you will not be healed until He comes.

Woods prepare for winter, by divesting themselves of work, (dropping their leaves), and wait for warmth of Spring.

Have you ever had a job where there was nothing to do so your boss handed you a broom and you swept the floor more than once just to stay busy. How much of our Christian activity is busy work? We could be waiting on God in prayer and have real assignments to do! I pray that what I do is not busy work. Am I just being busy to show others that I am an honorable Christian?

Do we neglect our responsibilities in order to wait on God? No.
Do we shy away from trying in order to wait on God? No.

Wait for basic direction. Be about these activities. Then wait for further input from God.

It seems to me that if you don't have basic direction you should really push hard on waiting before the Lord.

Take vacation time. Look for spare moments. Do what you got to do to get to God.