Another Example of God’s Involvement in My Life

(by Bible lover Bill, June 27, 2010)

I decided to go to the church I went to the week before, but no touching songs during worship this time.
One of the elder’s of the church did the sermon. He started with this passage:
Isaiah 40:28-31
“28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard,
that the everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the Earth,
does not grow weak nor weary?
There is no searching of His understanding.
29 He gives power to the weary;
and to him with no vigor, He increases strength.
30 Even the young shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall;
31 but those who wait on Jehovah shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”

In the Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible I take to church, I saw this:
Life Principle 14-- God Acts on Behalf of Those Who Wait For Him-- Isaiah 64:4
(by Pastor Charles Stanley)

In this hurry-up world, waiting for anything can cause us to lose our temper, our good sense, and our
tongues-- more frequently than we care to admit! No one enjoys waiting in line. We don’t like waiting at
stoplights. We don’t like waiting for diner. We don’t even like waiting for good things, like for fish to
bite. We want what we want right now.
Yet the Word of God insists that we learn some of life’s greatest lessons while we wait. Waiting
rooms can be hard classrooms, but God promises vast rewards to those who wait for Him God plans to
use the long pauses in our lives for our blessing… if we let Him.
Why does God so often ask us to wait? Let's consider five major rewards of waiting.

1. We discover God's will and purpose in the things that most concern us.
“The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.” (Lamentations 3:25)
God does not string us out to tantalize us. He does not dangle carrots in front of our noses to lead us
along. He does not say, as do many Earthly parents, “We'll see.” No. Right now, even as we wait, He is
working all things together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

2. We receive supernatural physical energy and strength.

God invites us to claim His promises in Isaiah 40:29-31: “He gives power the weak, and to those who
have no might He increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall utterly
fall, but the who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up wings like eagles, they
shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and no faint.”
God promises that as we wait o Him, He will supply us with supernatural, physical energy. While our
impatience makes us weary and worn, actively waiting on Him energizes us. Five or ten minutes of
waiting on God can be like a two-hour nap. Waiting on Him is never wasted time!

3. We win battles.
“Wait for the LORD, and He will save you.” (Proverbs 20:22) How wonderful to see the Lord rescue
us and bless us His favor! When we do things our way, in our own hurried time, we end up defeated. But
waiting on God will ensure our victory and keep us from foolish precipitous acts.

4. We see the fulfillment of our faith.

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 “They shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.” (Isaiah 49:23) In the end, we’ll never feel embarrassed
for waiting God; it's always the smart thing to When others encourage us to forge ahead instead of
waiting on the Lord, we need to remember that we will never ultimately be put to shame. “But Lord”,
may say during a long wait, “suppose it doesn't work out?” His answer? “I'll never let us down!”

5. We see God working on our behalf.

Isaiah spoke of the God “who acts for the one who waits for Him.” (Isaiah 64:4) What a wonderful
promise! While we actively wait, He actively works. Think of this: every single day, we have the greatest
Mediator working on our behalf, when things go wrong or when they go right.
Although waiting can be one of the more difficult things in the Christian life, it is not wasted time.
God gives us instructions through periods of actively waiting. He may change our circumstances while
we wait. He keeps us in step with Himself and prepares us for His answers. He uses the time to sift our
motives and strengthen our faith. And when we choose to wait, God rewards us with blessings both large
and unexpected.
Think of waiting on God as something like planting a garden. You put a seed under the soil and water
it. And then you wait.
And wait.
And wait.
After the sun and rain pelt the earth, the seeds begin to grow; and one day, finally, you begin to see
evidence of what you planted. Now, suppose you had grown impatient and dug up your seeds because
nothing seemed to be happening? You would have ruined your garden.
Remember, some fruit takes a long time to mature-- and the One who wants to bring it forth in our
lives knows exactly how long we need to wait. Waiting makes possible the most luscious fruit of all.

Now back to my responses to the sermon. He was talking about commitment to God and the following
came to my mind:
Romans 12:1-3
“1 I beseech you therefore, brothers [and sisters], by the mercies of God
to present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.
3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you,
not to think of himself [or herself] more highly than he [or she] ought to think.
But set your mind to be right-minded,
even as God has dealt to every man [and woman] the measure of faith.”

And the Holy Spirit had me notice this verse:

Romans 15:14
“And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brothers [and sisters],
that you also are full of goodness,
filled with all knowledge,
able also to admonish one another.”

Then the preacher went to this:

Isaiah 64:4-5ab
“4 For since the beginning of the world
men have not heard nor perceived by the ear.
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You,
Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
5 You meet him [and her] who rejoices and does righteousness,
those who remember You in Your ways.”

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Then the preacher went to this passage:
John 15:4-8
Jesus Christ said,
“4 Abide in Me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine,
so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5 I am the Vine, you are the branches.
He who abides in Me, and I in him,
the same brings forth much fruit,
for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered.
And they gather and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me and My Words abide in you,
you shall ask what you will and it shall be done to you.
8 In this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit,
so you shall be My disciples.”
And the Holy Spirit had me notice the following verse;
“9 As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you;
continue in My love.”
And I remembered this passage:
John 13:34-35
After cleaning the 11 Disciples feet after the Last Supper, Jesus Christ said,
“34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.
As I have loved you, you should also love one another.
35 By this all shall know that you are My disciples,
if you have love toward one another.”

Also as the preacher was speaking about intimately communicating with God, the following passage
came to my mind which I had logically formatted already:
Hebrews 10:19-25 (from the Lockman Foundation’s Amplified Bible)
19 Therefore, brethren [and sistren],
since we have full freedom {and} confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies
[by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus,
20 by this fresh (new) and living way
which He initiated {and} dedicated {and} opened for us
through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies),
that is, through His flesh,
21 and since we have [such] a great {and} wonderful {and} noble Priest
[Who rules] over the house of God,
22 let us all come forward {and} draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts
in unqualified assurance {and} absolute conviction engendered
by faith (by that leaning of the entire human personality on God
in absolute trust and confidence
in His power, wisdom, and goodness),
having our hearts sprinkled {and} purified from a guilty (evil) conscience
and our bodies cleansed with pure water.
23 So let us seize {and} hold fast {and} retain without wavering
the hope we cherish {and} confess {and} our acknowledgement of it,
for He Who promised is reliable (sure) {and} faithful to His word.
24 And let us consider {and} give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another,
studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love
{and} helpful deeds {and} noble activities,
25 not forsaking {or} neglecting to assemble together [as believers],
as is the habit of some people,

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 but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another,
and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching.

There were some other Scriptures that the preacher had read and he responded how they were related to
the theme of his message. I also remembered him refer to this verse:
Ephesians 1:4
“according as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love,
And the Holy Spirit had me notice this verse;
Ephesians 1:9
“having made known to us the mystery of His will,
according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,”

So true Christians have no excuses to not be fully living for God instead of their selves, even when it
means to actively wait for Him. Ironically, after the lunch at church and waiting to talk with Kurt, I got
to the downtown tram station where I change trams. But it was about 2:00 PM and the World Cup
Soccer Championship Game between the German and English teams was to start in two hours, but
thousands of Hannover fans were going to the stadium here to watch the game together on large screens
for free. Many had strange outfits and painting on their faces and arms. Many wore jerseys of the
players. They crowed on the trams (many extra trams went too) and so I didn’t get to get on a tram for
about 45 minutes. But I was able to witness a little to a policeman and another man (who had been
waiting longer than me). The German team did dominate the England team, but was anything done to the
glory of God by the players or their fans?

I did a Bible study course titled “1-- PFHL 301-- Waiting For and On God” and you can download it at
http://www.humyo.de/9538789/Christian%20basics%20and%20controversies/0A--%20My%20favorite
%20Bible%20studies/1--%20PFHL%20301--%20Waiting%20For%20and%20On%20God.doc
1-- PFHL 301-- WFAOG suggested answers http://www.humyo.de/9538789/Christian%20basics%20and
%20controversies/0A--%20My%20favorite%20Bible%20studies/1--%20PFHL%20301--%20WFAOG
%20suggested%20answers.doc