They That Wait

Are you getting tired? Is your strength just about gone? Are you ready to give up? If so, get ready to shout for Jesus is about to pass by. The purpose of our time of waiting may be so that we will exhaust all of our strength, tried everything we know to try, get to the end of our rope and realize that it is not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord. So that when the healing comes, God will get the glory and not our fleshly efforts.

I love the story of Abraham and Sarah. God gives them a promise. They are going to have a family that would number as the stars in the night sky. They had to wait a little while, in fact a good bit of time passes, so much so that Abraham and Sarah try some fleshly efforts to bring about the promise, namely having a child by the servant girl, Hagar. We do not have the time here to discuss the problems that arise when you try to bring about God's promise through your own fleshly efforts. However, because of Abraham and Sarah’s attempt to bring about God’s promise through the arm of flesh, Ishmael was born, the child of flesh. Later, in God’s timing Isaac, the child of promise was born. The ensuing struggle between Isaac and Ishmael was the beginning of the Arab/Israeli conflict. Suffice it to say that the world is still dealing with that problem thousands of years later.

Anyway, God appears to Abraham again when Abraham is 99 years old and confirms the promise that Sarah will bear that promised child. Abraham fell face down and laughed, Sarah laughed. Every part of their being that could produce life was gone. I always used to think that Abraham and Sarah had children when they were 100 and 90 years old respectively, because they waited until they could financially afford children. God had them wait so that when the promise came, no one but God would get the glory. It wasn't our strength, it wasn't our wisdom, it wasn't our potency; it was God!

The Gospel of John, chapter eleven, records the story of Lazarus. News reaches Jesus that Lazarus is sick. Jesus waits two days before He takes the first step toward Lazarus' home. He tells the disciples, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4) A Divine delay. For what purpose? So that God will be glorified. The wait sometimes means that God has something bigger planned than what we do. Mary and Martha wanted a healing; God was going to bring a resurrection. Sometimes things in our lives, generated by our flesh must die, so that God can do something bigger and better than we could even imagine. So a time of waiting must pass while all of our fleshly attempts and strength dies off. Then God can begin to work.