0:01 Please turn to Isaiah 40. One time one of my kids was crying before bed and they were really struggling with something and after uh I asked the problem what the problem 0:18 was and I confirmed what was going on I said, "Okay, we're going to pray for God to help us." And uh they replied with "Well, sometimes prayer doesn't work because I prayed for something sometimes and it didn't happen." 0:34 Uh what do you say to that? What do you tell a child in that situation when you've prayed and God hasn't answered uh yet? In this situation, I said, "Don't worry, God will answer. Just be patient." And I didn't get the sense that gave the 0:49 child much peace. Um so I kept reiterating, "God will answer. God will answer. Don't worry." Um and the truth is I didn't know when God would answer. I didn't know if the answer would be in the form that my child was looking 1:03 for but I knew God would answer somehow. Um and God eventually did answer, but then the next question comes, "Why the wait? Uh why not right away? God created a universe with a word and he could do anything. Um we know that 1:19 God doesn't answer all our selfish prayers, but for things that are his will, good things that we pray for that we're really seeking God for, that we know are his will, promises even um if God can do something, why hasn't he? 1:32 Uh why the wait? And that's what I wanted to talk about today and I felt led to share on is some things I've learned while waiting on the Lord. So in Isaiah 40, I wanted to read the passage that we heard last week from Sandy 1:46 in verses 30 and 31 "Though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become 2:02 weary." And the word that stayed on my heart from what we heard last week was to wait for the Lord. And that the waiting for the Lord isn't passive. It's an active waiting where there's a where there's a drawing close to the Lord in the meantime in the midst 2:16 of the waiting. The way I would summarize it is that the active part of the waiting, I thought about it in two steps. Uh we don't need to understand what will happen after the wait or um how long my wait will be uh or or how he'll figure everything 2:32 out. The only thing is I need to worry about is to be active is take the next step of obedience today, right now that I'm aware of and then two trust God for all the steps after that. Um and that when I thought about it like 2:47 that, it really helps. Um let's say we're struggling for example with some sin and we've prayed and fought and we've prayed and fought and we keep falling, falling praying, fighting, falling in a circle. Uh what do we do? 3:00 We one, take the next take the next temptation by itself as if as if it's the only one that I need to conquer right now. Don't worry about tomorrow. Today has enough trouble of its own. Seek the Lord for grace and for this 3:13 one. And then two, trust him for the future ones. Don't worry about them yet. Trust that he'll help he'll give um grace for it. And the Christian life is like that, one step at a time. The it's like that saying, "The journey of a thousand miles 3:27 starts with one step." So it's a very freeing thing when Jesus said, "Don't worry about tomorrow. Today has enough trouble of its own." He really lifts a lot of burden of our off our shoulders with that phrase. Um I don't know how much longer I'll live. 3:39 Let's say for example I I live another 50 years. I did a calculator and that's uh 50 * 365 is 18,250. So let's say I live um 18,250 more days. Jesus is saying, "I'll worry about 18,249. 3:59 You worry about one and I'll help you worry about this one. I'll help you with this one." And wow, what a merciful God to take on that. I just get one little thing to worry about, but he's going to help me um with that one. So seek to to seek the 4:14 Lord for that victory today not to sit seek to not to even sin once today. Seek to overcome the temptations that are happening to me right now, to be faithful and then tomorrow when the temptations come, seek the Lord again. 4:28 Um And so that's a very freeing word to me and it goes right along with our memory verse that says uh "Come to me all who are weary and I'll give you rest." The rest comes when the yoke our our yoke is one day for us and then 18,249 for 4:42 Jesus. That's what the yoke looks like to me. Um and uh and that's really an encouraging word, but what about the long-term struggles though that seem like they span longer than one day? Because when we pray and we ask God for help, they 4:57 don't they aren't always answered the same day and it seems like the yoke is more than one day. Um sometimes we have to wait on the Lord for years for something that we know is his will, we know is a good thing. Um I know all of us have been in situations 5:11 like that. Um for good things, maybe it's a victory over sin or to change the heart of someone in our life to repent or maybe it was to provide for a genuine need for ourselves or someone else or restore some relationship. These 5:25 are good things to pray for and these things usually don't happen in one day. Um we prayed sincerely, but God didn't answer today and I think that's one of the major struggles um that I've had and if unbelievers struggle with the the what they call the 5:40 problem of evil, if God exists, why why does evil exist? Um then we as Christians can struggle with the Christian equivalent. If God can do something, why hasn't he? Uh we've been praying for that long, why hasn't he done something yet? 5:56 And so I wanted to share a couple of encouragements that helped me during that period of waiting on the Lord. And the first is going back to that truth that we always go back to in Romans 8:29 that God is more concerned 6:10 not to give us something, but to make us something. So imagine for a second that all my prayers which I have in my heart right now, let's just say that God snapped his fingers and in instant miraculously answered all of them. Um 6:25 what would be the result? My situations are all saved, that's good. Um all the they're all perfect, all the circumstances in my life are perfect. But I myself am basically exactly the same as I was before I prayed. Uh so no learning to draw close to God, no 6:42 leaning on him, no closer to Jesus, no no more appreciation than I had. Um no eternal reward, no testing of faith. Uh no praising God in the midst of a trial, just easy life. Um so is immediate answers the best for 6:58 everything? It's it's definitely not. Um I'm interested in changing my circumstances right now, but God is interested in changing me for the long term. And a lot of mysteries in our life with God can be solved by going to Romans 7:13 8:29 and saying God's main goal for me is to be like Jesus. Uh so that's a really important thing to remember. And I I've seen at least two ways that God makes me like Jesus by delaying. And two really good things that God can 7:29 form in me while allowing my answers to be delayed. One is uh gratitude and the other is humility. If you turn to Deuteronomy 7 he said in verse 22 "The Lord your God will clear away these 7:52 nations before you little by little. You will not be able to put an end to them quickly." So God's going going to extend the length of this victory. Why? Um for the wild beasts would grow too numerous for you. What are the wild beasts? 8:10 I don't know all of them, but I think I know at least two of them. One is pride and the other is ingratitude, lack of appreciation. When he delays, he can keep those away. He can give us progress while keeping those away. 8:24 Regarding gratitude, I think there's something about waiting that helps us increase our appreciation for God when he does answer. Who appreciates a marriage more? One who's rushed into marriage when the right at the first opportunity um and 8:39 married outside of God's will or the one who's waited for for the Lord to answer in prayer for years and would refuse to do it until they heard the got the green light from God and they married later than they wanted, but when they did get it um they 8:54 were sure that it was from God. Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." I believe that tree of life is appreciation to God, recognizing all credit goes to God, not us and being 9:10 really appreciative. Um I married later than I wanted um but I appreciate my marriage so much more because of it. I'm so much more thankful because um I see how God had to make me wait and I'm thankful I could look back and see 9:24 things that he did in my life that I needed to wait for and mature in before I married. And so waiting and seeking the Lord diligently in the midst of while we're waiting helps us to appreciate um the answer when it does come. 9:41 Um so the first beast is ingratitude that can come, but the second one is also pride. Uh he can help us to grow while remaining humble. We sometimes sing that song, "When we've reached the end of our hoarded resources, our Father's full giving has 9:56 only begun. So, that's so true that we like we hoard our plans and our schemes, our money, our wisdom, our internet searches, and books, and whatever we our quotes and stories. We hoard everything and think we know we think we know 10:10 everything. Um we really feel like it. But then God has to give make us wait for a while because only then can we see, "Wow, I I don't really know. I I don't have the answer. I don't have the solution. I thought I did. Um 10:24 the only place I can go now is God." And finally we came to the Lord and said, "Lord, I'm done. I'm done with myself. I can't do it. It has to be you." And I've seen that happen in my own life. And then when I've hit that spot, 10:36 God spoke to my heart, "You're in a really good spot now. It's really good spot to be in to genuinely feel in our heart, I can't do anything. Um it has to be you, Lord. You got to do something. Um and the Lord can only teach it 10:48 to us by delaying those things. We He doesn't give us that that war all at once. But to give us one fight, one battle at a time where we have to depend on the Lord. Um seeing how we have to be needy. And anytime where we think that we're 11:03 something, he's got to knock us down so he has to allow us to be knocked down so we could see, "Lord, I need you." Um and like Jesus, we can genuinely feel in our heart, not just know in our head, but we can feel like Jesus said, "I I 11:15 really can do nothing apart from him." It's one thing when we we we can still do something about our struggle. We feel pretty capable. Um maybe it's some lack of money. Well, let me go try to get a raise or make some more money or something. Um 11:31 but when um when we're in a spots that are really, really impossible, but we've seen, "I've tried everything. Um I can't do anything." For example, one of those spots is when God has to change somebody's heart. We We can 11:44 maybe there's people in our life we've tried to convince of something, maybe lost loved ones that we tried to point out the truth. We felt like, "Oh, if I just say the right truth in the right way, they'll come to Jesus." 11:56 But then we realized God has to change a heart. I can't do anything. I can't change a person's heart. And then we're in a good spot to say, "Lord, I'm going to lean on prayer now." Um I remember Hudson Taylor. He said one 12:09 thing that often has come back over the years that's helped me. I've learned to move man by prayer alone. Uh because that's how we have to move people. We can't We think that we can control people, but we can't. Um God has to do move people. 12:24 So, it's a good place to be when we feel so helpless and say, "Lord, you got to do something." Um cuz then once he does answer, we can be thankful and we won't take any of the glory ourself for the answer. When God does save our 12:36 loved one, when somebody does repent, we're like, "Wow, Lord, you did it. Um I tried and failed and tried and failed, but finally you did it. All glory to you, Lord." And speaking of that, um God's glory, that's another thing that's really 12:51 helped me endure waiting when the struggle is really hard. Um waiting when I was praying for something that I knew was God's will uh that he was delaying on, is remembering that God gets a lot more glory out of someone who waits in faith praising him 13:06 than one who gets it right away. And I I want my life to give glory to God. That's one truth that's carried me in really hard times. God can get more glory out of my life through this suffering through it faithfully than if he delivered me right 13:20 away. And that's genuinely given me a joy in the midst of struggle, remembering this is the path that gives God the most glory out of my life. And there's a satis an inward joy and satisfaction that um helps me carry me 13:34 through. If I could pick one of two lives, either having things go easy my whole life or um suffering and letting my life letting my life give God God glory, then I'd definitely choose the latter. I want my life to count for God for 13:49 something. Uh so to be able to say one day I was able to say it suffer in some little way for him, the one that suffered for me. I think that's why Paul was able to say, "I boast in my weaknesses." Some Most of us are crying out for deliverance for 14:05 our weaknesses, but Paul was saying, "This is my boast. This is my pride and joy, my weaknesses, all my struggles." If you um read through the epistles that Paul wrote, it's amazing how often he talks about all he had to go through. You 14:18 think, "Man, Paul, you're really focused on all your suffering." Um but he's not complaining about it. He's boasting of it. He He He's always his attitude towards when he talks about it in all the epistles is he's saying, "Um this is 14:30 These are my pride and joy cuz this is how God is getting glory, and it's how he's helping you. It's um it's how he's helping the people that he loved in the churches that were going through suffering, too." He was using 14:40 that. He was boasting in that. Um I even ran into another verse. I don't know them them um reference off the top of my head. He was He used other people's suffering. He was saying, "I share your um afflictions with other churches cuz 14:52 it encourages them." I think it was Thessalonians somewhere. And so that um that's the comfort that's really helped me to to help help my my sufferings be my pride and joy. Like a warm blanket in my heart is this is how 15:04 God's getting glory out of my life. Praise God for that. If I can endure this and be faithful, um that he can get some glory, I'll happily accept it as long as he wants. Lord, delay as long as you want. Um uh as long as you get glory out of my 15:17 life, I'll do it with a song in my heart. Um and I hope to do it with a faith like Abraham that just grows more more and more every day. So, what an opportunity to shine for Jesus, to see it as an opportunity, such a a privilege to um to do something and 15:31 suffer in some way for the Lord. And then another thing I've learned that's really encouraging is the battle and the fighting may be going on for a long time. I don't know how long your wait will be. Um but one of the things I've seen in the 15:46 long waits is that God refreshes me along the way. Uh anybody I know there are a lot of runners in this church. Uh anybody that knows about running a marathon knows you can't have a marathon without rest stops. Um places to refresh the runners along the 16:00 way. Cuz uh God didn't make us to go on forever without refreshment. A marathon is really, really long. It's 26.2 miles. If you walk a marathon, it'll take probably 10 hours or so. It's a huge distance. Um so the Christian life, a lot of times we 16:16 can be waiting a long time like that. It can feel like a marathon. Just step, step, step. Will it ever end? Um it can feel really hard when the distance feels long. Trials sometimes feel the hardest when they're long. Um 16:31 but I know one thing, while you're waiting on the Lord, it's not hopeless until the finish line. God will refresh you along the way. He puts those rest stops in. I've seen that. Um so that it the wait isn't unbearable. And maybe it's an encouragement from a 16:45 brother or sister, or maybe it's some encouragement, some progress in the situation. Um it may be a verse or a word straight from the Lord to our heart. That's what I think of when I read about how Peter was sinking into the water, 16:57 and it says that Jesus lifted him up immediately when he cried for help. And it says the wind was still going. The storm was still happening, but Peter was lifted up, and he was above the water now when Jesus lifted him up, even 17:08 though the storm was still happening. So, God can lift us up even before the storm goes away. And we can um and I believe a lot of time that lifting up is a straight from a word from him directly to our heart that nobody else 17:21 is Maybe it's a truth that nobody else in the history of the world has ever even seen before in that way. It's a truth No No truth is new. Every truth is in the Bible, but maybe it's in a way that's been personalized just for you, 17:31 just for your situation. Um and that word can refresh us. It's like a rest stop in the marathon and give us energy to keep going. Um anybody that's run a long way knows how it when you when you get refreshed and you stretch 17:46 your legs a little bit, you keep running and it feels like, "Wow, that was so nice. I needed that." Um and God gives us right when we need need it. Um to refresh us, keep running without being tired, to keep waiting on the Lord during the 17:59 marathon without being frustrated and full of anxiety. Or maybe another thing that God will do a a rest stop is precious fellowship with a brother or sister um that prays with you or says the right word. It's like Paul who said, "I was at the 18:14 end of myself, but I was refreshed when right in time when the by the coming of Titus." Um and uh I I've seen that there were times when I felt like that, struggling to go on. And right at the right time God would give me fellowship with a brother 18:27 that would come right at the right time, and I'd talk and pray, and there'd be mutual encouragement, and I felt a new re- renewed strength. Such a joy leaving that one meeting. Um and it says in Isaiah 40 there, "Those who wait for the Lord will gain new 18:42 strength." Not just strength, but new strength. That's what you get when you get refreshed at a rest stop is new strength that you didn't have before you got there. So, um where we can go on totally rejuvenated. And it's like like the 18:53 verse says, like we have wings now. It's like we're flying over the pavement when God rejuvenates us like that. So, we don't don't look for God just to zoom you to the finish line. Look for God to refresh you while you're waiting. 19:05 Um we draw closer to him like that. And it gives him more glory like that than if he just leaped us to the finish line. God God's not less merciful than the organizer of all these marathons that you have to go pay for uh to run. 19:19 He He'll go with those rest stops. He knows what we need. He wants to renew our strength. Lastly, um a picture of the Lord put on my my heart this morning of the last point of the things that God's encouraged me with during the 19:34 wait, um is how he draws us closer to him than ever before in the middle of struggling waits that we're struggling. Um where he helps us to see how precious he is more than anything else in this world. And uh I thought of a a rich man who was 19:52 excelling in his career and he was one who forgot about his family. He had such a great career and he was so happy with it, but he forgot about his family. And so they were at home and he's working. He had a good family, but he didn't 20:11 notice because he was so captivated by how good his portfolio was and how good whatever he's doing was. But then he lost his job and he couldn't get another one and some months went by and he was struggling, struggling and soon he was 20:24 poor and his family was poor. But his wife was there supporting him the whole time encouraging him, "That's okay, honey. We'll make it. We'll make it." And then pretty soon when he was at rock bottom, he saw, "Wow, what a wife I have 20:39 to keep encouraging me this whole way. This whole time I've had her and I never even noticed." But he couldn't see it till he lost everything else. And sometimes I've seen it's in the time of long deep struggle that God reminds 20:53 me he's the precious one that was there the whole time, but I kind of forgot about him. It's not that God really removed everything in my life ever, but sometimes it's felt like that. In the middle of a long wait, it can feel like 21:05 that, like there's nothing left. Like we have nothing. Sometimes a a wait that we have for a long time just gets It's almost like putting a toddler on your shoulders if anybody's carried a toddler. It's okay for the first minute, 21:16 but then 10 minutes goes on and they feel 10 times heavier than they did the first minute. The The longer you have to wait, sometimes it just kind of adds up. And so waiting sometimes increases the the feeling of that depth of loss. 21:29 And when we feel that depth of loss, like, "Wow, I have nothing in this earth that's left. I really feel like, Lord, you're the only thing left, but I have you." Um we're in a good spot cuz now we can see just like that rich man could see how 21:42 precious his family was, we can finally see how precious God was to us, the one that was there the whole time. Uh it can be easy to forget how how he's with us and how precious it is that he's the only thing we need the whole time. 21:54 Uh turn to Hosea chapter 11. It's like how God said of Israel, "When Israel was a youth, I loved him 22:13 and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they called them, the more they went from them. They kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning incense to idols, yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk." It's like It's like Israel was a little toddler 22:26 and he's there caring for Israel. "I took them in my arms, but they didn't know that I healed them. I led them with cords of a man, the bonds of love, and I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws and I bent down 22:38 and fed them. They will not return to me to the land of Egypt, but Assyria he will be their king because they refused to return to me." God was the one the whole time there invisibly holding them by the hand, feeding them, bending 22:53 down, silently loving them and tending to them. But Israel just forgot that God was the one there the whole time. And so my goal is I never want to forget the precious one that my father my dad who's been there the whole time since I 23:07 was born, the only one that's been there since I was born, always loving me, pulling me up, rooting for me, feeding me. I was just so focused on getting to the finish line, but I forgot he was with me. I don't really need the finish line 23:20 just just yet because God is with me. So praise God for the waiting and the long struggles to help us see that our dad is the the one who's been with us the whole time to close to us, lifting us up the whole time. It's really a waiting in on the Lord can 23:34 be a huge blessing like we heard last week. That's where the two strands can get entangled with each other and interwoven with each other. So may God do that for for each of us in our times of waiting.
