When you are wanting to do God's will because He has planted something in your heart; out of excitement for that revelation, you are expecting the Lord to provide what you need to so you can step out and start doing what God has placed in your heart to do. You stay in prayer seeking guidance as you search the scriptures for better understanding and a clear course for accomplishing this ever present need to fulfill God's will. Days, weeks, months and even years go by, yet you are not able to move into the place you are sure God needs you to be so He can complete what He is confirming He still wants you to do. You begin to wonder, Did you miss it? Are you sure this was God giving you the revelation? Are you sure it was God speaking to you? Then He gives you more revelations and many more confirmations as you continue hearing His voice telling you to do this very specific thing.
So why are you still waiting? Why does God put us through this up and down movement of telling and waiting?
God moved on Moses when He was forty years old and gave him the revelation that he was to deliver the children of Israel from the hands of Pharaoh (Acts 7:20-25), yet forty more years passed before Moses actually was allowed to fulfill that revelation (Acts 7:30).
So why does God make us wait so long?
The answer lies in what God is wanting to see us do!
When Moses had finally led Israel into freedom and they were in need of food, God gave them manna from heaven to sustain them while they were journeying in the wilderness. The reason he gave them this "manna" was to see if they would walk in His will or not.
Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not."
Exodus 16:16
This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: "Let every man gather it according to each one’s need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent."
Deuteronomy 8:3
So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.
Can you imagine having to eat only one thing for forty years?!
How tired would you get having the same thing every day for forty years?
We tend to not like the same meal twice in one week, but their food was always the same.
God did it this way to see if they were willing to walk in His law or not. It was God's way of testing them to see if they would do as He commanded them (Ex. 16:16-21).
The WAIT is a Test
The WAIT is also a way of testing so the Lord can see if you will do what he wants you to do, and to see if you will do things HIS way. Just as the children of Israel were to gather the manna a certain way, while you are waiting for the Lord to fulfill his promises to you, He also reveals specific things He wants you to do and He will show you exactly how he wants you to do it.
How will you do in the test of WAITING?
There are Two ways to wait: John 6:41-46
Committed to God or Complaining to God.
As soon as need arise:
Committed to God says, "What do you need of me Lord?!"
Complaining to God says, "Solve it Lord!"
As soon as revelation is presented to you:
Committed to God says, "Yes Lord, use me".
Complaining to God says, "We can't do that".
The WAIT shows God if you are going to become humble and allow Him to work through you or will you complain and argue with God for the ways He wants things to be done.
Psalms 25:21 "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for You."
The WAIT develops you into a workable person for God's use.
Psalms 27:14 "Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!"
Commitment cannot be proven in a short time. In the waiting God is proofing you to show who you really are and what you are capable of doing through Him.
The Testing teaches you that we do not live by our way alone, but also by His way.
God told Israel, “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD." [Deuteronomy 8:3].
Before God gives you all you need He wants you to be a person that will still follow His ways and remember it was the Lord God that made a covenant with you and has brought you great blessings.
Deuteronomy 8:10 “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you."
Deuteronomy 8:14 “. .when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. . ."
Deuteronomy 8:18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."
This is why He establishes covenant with you and gives your power to gain increase. . .
The WAIT is to see if you will abandon ship or not, or see if you are going to ride out the storms that come from "doing His Commandments". Are you going to quit because you do not see the hand of the Lord moving in the way you want him to, or are you going be a person of faith like Joshua and Celeb, patiently waiting to go into the land. They were the only two that was over the age of sixty when they went into the land because they were the only ones in their generation who was willing to stand in faith.
Are you wanting to do like the many that quit only to "do what you think is right"?
It is not easy working out the will of God in your life.
What part of Jesus' life was easy, yet it was God's will for him.
What part of those mentioned by Paul in Hebrews 11:32-38 had it easy?
Nothing was easy that these people went through, but it was what God wanted done! His way!
What you are going through right now might not be easy, but if it is God's way, it is right!
If God is with us, who can be against us?!
If He said it. . . Believe It!!!. . . Follow It!!!!. . .Do IT!!!!!
When Jesus shared in John 6:53-58 concerning eating His flesh and drinking his blood, that saying was so hard many people stopped following him. In verse 60 and 61 Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them, "Does this offend you?"
God does not want anyone to follow him that is not going to believe so he allows things to become difficult in order that they will only come because they want to be there; believing only because they do believe; and trusting him because they will trust him no matter what he says. Truth is not easily accepted and God only wants those who follow him to believe in Him and his teachings.
If you don't want to believe. . . Go home!!
If you quit. . .You did not believe!!
When the Spirit Moves. . . Move with HIM!!!!
When the Prophets prophesy and the Spirit confirms that prophecy. . . Follow IT!!!!
When the Word is preached and the Spirit confirms that word. . .Do IT!!!!
When the Bible speaks out to you from its pages and the Spirit confirms that word. . .Trust IT!!! Believe IT!!!!!. . .and DO IT!!!!!
And when God is making you WAIT. . .let the wait prove you to follow His commands. . .His Spirit. . .His WILL!
Let the WAIT develop you as God wants you to be.
Israel waited four hundred and thirty years before they were freed from the bondage of Egypt.
They went into Egypt as seventy souls (Genesis 46:27), but they came out a mighty nation of people (Deuteronomy 26:5). God used the waiting to develop them for his purpose and to fulfill his will.
God is using you in your WAIT to develop you into that tool he needs you to be once the wait is over.
Everyone has a WAIT to do. . . DON'T WAIST YOUR WAIT!
Build the vision God has planted in you.
Learn all you can in scripture;
Become educated in the things pertaining to your vision;
Grow in experience as the person God needs you to be;
Learn to listening and hear God's voice.
Develop everything you can and build yourself up in the things God is showing you.
Learn to trust God in all the things.
Become that person God needs so you can do what he has given you to do.
Be building you. . .
Then it can be said of you once God has given you power to walk in his blessings,
That you were found faithful. . .