There's one thing that I’m really bad at and it's waiting.
When God asks me to wait, I think of a million things that I could be doing. The more I see time pass and nothing seems to be getting accomplished, I become anxious.
For those of you who are ambitious achievers like me, we think that it's only in the doing that we can achieve. The truth is, waiting is as important as doing.
God has put in my heart since last year to do a Discover Your Purpose Conference for students and young adults. It wasn't until this last month that God confirmed He wanted me to do this conference this coming May.
May was only 3 months away, and no one plans a conference in 3 months (unless God tells you to).
In my mind, I needed to get a room booked within the next 2 weeks. I also wanted a location booked soon because I had a conference coming up where I would be speaking and wanted to promote the Discover Your Purpose Conference there.
I was able to get in touch with the president of an organization at a Local University who was able to help me. However, 2 weeks went by and I didn't receive any update.
I thought to myself, should I try asking someone else? Should I try booking another place? A million questions went through my head of possible things I could be doing.
It was at that moment when God said, "You did your part, let me do mine."
I trusted that God had everything in control and He reassured me that He cares more about the people that will be coming to the conference than I did.
3 weeks go by and it was the week of the conference where I would be speaking at. That Monday morning I received a message from the President of the organization that the room was booked.
When God asks us to wait, He is simply saying our part is done and now it's His part to do.
I believe God purposely went out of my own timeline to get the Conference room booked to show me that it is HIM who establishes everything.
Proverbs 16:9 says, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” We can't accomplish our God-sized tasks without God. He does this to show us His mighty hand as the Great I am.
Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.” We can do our very best to set things up for success, but at the end of the day, success is in God's hands. He wants us to partner with Him, but ultimately it is through God's hands that we can do all things.
Even if we try to do it without God, our own process will end up hurting us and possibly others. We see in the Bible that God made a promise to Abraham. He said through his wife Sarah, Abraham would be the father of many descendants.
Abraham and Sarah were of old age and it was impossible for them to have a son. Because of this, in Genesis 16, Abraham and Sarah agreed for Abraham to sleep with her servant Hagar in hopes to build a family. Instead of waiting on God, Abraham and Sarah went ahead of God and tried to make His promise in their own ways.
Sarah ended up despising Hagar and her son Ishmael, later causing conflicts for generations to come.
God is always faithful and His promise still happened. He allowed Sarah to conceive even during old age. Abraham and Sarah could have avoided all the trouble and stress if they had just waited on God.
Waiting is an important step in the process of entering into our promise land. Waiting is the bridge from the time God speaks of a promise to the time of which it will come to pass. We must have the faith to wait and believe that God is still moving in the waiting.
What promises has God spoken over your life? Will you wait and trust that God will bring it to pass?
When we refuse to wait on God, we take things into our own hands and miss out on God's opportunity to show off in our lives. It's only when we choose to wait on God that we will see His promises come to pass.
Psalm 37:34 says, "Hope in the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land...” It is God who will exalt and position us to walk into our calling and live out our purpose.
When God tells us to wait it's not optional, it's a command. Isaiah 64:4 says, "God acts on behalf of those who wait on Him”. God's desire is for us to see Him as our father and provider. If He is the one who spoke that promise and put that desire in our hearts, He will bring it to pass. So remember, just wait.
Prayer: God, help me to be patient in the midst of waiting and not take things away from your hands.
