Bible Ballistics: Wait?? But How Long, Oh Lord?? Vol. 5 #24
Wait! It’s the big ‘W’ for most of us. Waiting isn’t what we humans do best. We’d rather rush ahead, run on past the ‘turtle’, or leap over tall buildings, but NOT WAIT!!! A much-neglected principle of scripture is to ‘Wait’. Yet what are we to wait on? And how long? Well, let’s see what God has to say!
“Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Lord our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.” Jeremiah 14:22
Here Jeremiah reminds himself, as well as all Israel that God is there only hope. We who live here in Oklahoma understand the need for ‘rain’, yet many often forget that what Jeremiah points out here is the bottom line: Who can send the rain??? Only God, and He’s the one I’m trusting in and praying to for that very rain in these days of drought. What are you depending on? The government? The weatherman? Science? Can these “vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain” do any more now that then? Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, answers with a resounding NO!!! Only God, the creator of all can send the rain. And we can choose to “wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things”, or we can look to “the vanities” of man. And this applies to rain, money, standards, and devotion. With Joshua, I choose God!!!
“Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15
And that’s worth repeating: “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”!!! How about you?
Isaiah, another great prophet of God warned of coming judgment, and of all people and nations, America needs to take heed to God and His Word. Ignorance is not an excuse, and while we’ve certainly had access to God and His Word, what has been our response? I want what I want, when I want it, and then I want it MY way!!! God’s answer:
“Hast thou not known?
hast thou not heard,
that the everlasting God,
the Lord,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not,
neither is weary?
there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint;
and to them that have no might
he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31
We have known! We have heard! And we have refused to hear God:
“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.” Zechariah 7:11
And as the religious leaders of the day heard the preaching and testimony of the godly Stephen, refused to hear or heed, so it is in our day:
“Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, 58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him…..” Acts 7:57-58a
Don’t like the message? Then kill the messenger. It’s been the destiny of many of God’s greatest prophets and preachers, and it hasn’t ceased to be the response of the world. We are living in a day when people don’t want to hear the “Word of the Lord”, and they aren’t averse to eliminating the ‘opposition’—and folks, if you haven’t been paying attention, that’s us. We who are standing fast on, and for the Word of God as ultimate TRUTH! What are you standing on? Who or what are you waiting for? Are you waiting on the Lord to come? For Jesus to bring in His righteousness, or are you satisfied with the status quo?
We can wait on God and His provision and purpose to be accomplished in us and be the salt and light Jesus called us to be; and if we belong to Jesus, He doesn’t say that we should be salt and light, but that we “ARE” the salt and the light in a dark and corrupt world. What are you ‘being’?
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:13-16
Suffice it to say, Jesus makes us ‘salt’, and if we know and belong to Him, we are to be salting the world around us, not telling them corruption is ok! We are to be lighting the way, not telling them that the way they are on is ok! Because there is only one right way and that’s Jesus!!!
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
Are you telling the truth and calling others to ‘wait on the Lord”? Jesus also tells us that He’s the only way to God and if we’re not ‘waiting’ on Him—what are we ‘waiting’ on?
John 14:5-6, “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Only one way—Jesus!!!
We can be those “fools rush in” or we can “wait on the Lord” God Almighty to speak, lead and work or we can go our own way.
Psalm 123:2, “Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.” Without HIS mercy we are hopeless.
We must remember with the Psalmist, that God is keeping account, we will give an account and we should be:
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith……” Hebrews 12:2a
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5
We must continually “wait on the Lord”—but not just sit and twiddle our thumbs. We are to wait devotedly, committedly and expectantly, ready to be what He asks us to be, to do what He asks us to do, and to go where He asks us to go!!! And to be, and do, and go HIS WAY!!!
“Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. 4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. 9 For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Psalm 37:1-9
Let’s wait on God’s reward. Payday isn’t today, but it’s coming! And God holds the accounts!!!
“And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:10
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Revelation 20:12
So, make it a “wait on the Lord” day, or go your own way—the choice is yours but the consequences of your choice are out of your hand. How long?? UNTIL:
“From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.” Hebrews 10:13
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords.” Revelation 19:11-16
So I’ll ‘wait on the Lord’ every day until our “King Of Kings, And Lord Of Lords”, Jesus Christ comes in HIS GLORY!! How about YOU???
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