Wait....A Four Letter Word

I want to share with you a book I just finished entitled, "One in A Million...Journey to Your Promised Land." It was written by Priscilla Shirer who is the same author who wrote about the story of Jonah about which I earlier blogged. This book is about the nation of Israel after they were set free from Egypt as they wandered in the wilderness waiting for God to take them into the land he had promised them. Waiting on God....I think that is why I was led to this book. So much of my experiences over the last year and specifically since the New Year mirror the content in this book; I have learned so much by looking at the Israelites' journey and comparing it to my own. Waiting is hard; it was hard for them back then, and I think it is even harder for us now. Why? Because we live in a world that condemns the wait. Wait....it has become a "four letter word." Everything has be faster, overnight, high-speed, immediate, 3G, 4G,etc... and God forbid we should have to wait for it. The ruler of this world and the enemy of your soul wants you and I to despise the wait because if we do we will 1. stop trusting God that He will do what He says he will do, 2. Try to take matters into our own hands, and 3. never get the inheritance that God has planned for us. Not the inheritance he might give you...the one he plans to give you. Big difference.

I'm not sure that every promised land is preceded by a wilderness experience, but I think many are. This is so important to understand, especially if you find yourself in a desolate, lonely place, unsure why God has led/allowed you to be there, and feeling so far away from his promises. God's word tells us why He leads us to these places. " Deut 8:2 "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years not to humiliate, but to humble you; to test what is in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands." Once being set free from strongholds, God needs to know the changes are going to stick before He can take us into all that He has for us. The enemy always wants to see you go back to captivity; Satan will use every attempt to magnify your emotions of isolation in the wilderness so that you will not prove genuine to God, and even worse...to yourself. 

The key point here is that Satan would never engage us in the wilderness except for the fact that you have a Promised Land to get to. I think it is crucial to keep this in mind at every turn. If God didn't have the 'best' as a destination in your future, then there would be no need to interrupt the journey. I've discovered in my own very recent experience and in scripture, one of Satan's tactics is to ALWAYS offer a short-cut. He will suggest that God will never come through for you, or because of your own weakness that best is never going to happen, but if you would just take what he has to offer, you could have all your heart is lacking. Look at Jesus' time in the Wilderness as a perfect example. If you look at what Satan offered they were all natural shortcuts to what God had supernaturally planned for his Son:
1. Jesus had the immediate struggle of hunger. Shortcut: Jesus could create bread to meet his own need. God's plan was to make Jesus into "the Bread of Life., so that no man would be hungry." (John 6:35)
2.Jesus was God; he could control all things & circumstances. He had the struggle to control his authority here on Earth to follow only the will of his Father. Shortcut: Don't obey God and become ruler over all earthly authorities. "Son though he was, he learned obedience from all he suffered." (Hebrews 5:8). God's plan was to exalt him higher than all through his obedience. "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and in earth, and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus is Lord." (Phil 2:9-11)
3. When the first two didn't work, the enemy encouraged him to sacrifice his life for his own sake to show that he was God's son. God's plan was for his son to sacrifice his life, not for his own sake, but for ours. (John 3:16). Thank God that Jesus did not take any of the enemy's short cuts to his promised purposes here on Earth and this should be our goal as well.

If we want God to reveal himself in our circumstances we have to be willing to wait. Waiting obediently, patiently and expectantly. The bible has much to say about waiting on the Lord. Many of these are good verses to commit to memory. Look how much we miss out on, if we are unable to wait! My enemy knows this full well. So guess what? I'm not taking any short cuts. The only navigation system needed for wilderness driving is obedience to God's word:

--Psalm 27:13-14 I remain confident in this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, take heart and wait for the Lord.
--Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
--Psalm 130:6 I wait for the Lord more than watchman wait for the morning, more than watchman wait for the morning.
--Prov 20:22 Wait for the Lord and he will avenge you.
--Isaiah 30:18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up and show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are those who wait for him!
--Lamentations 3:24 The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him!
--1st Corin 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.
--James 5:7 Be patient until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains."

God hides in faith but is revealed in obedience. So I will wait for him.