The Proof Is In the Waiting

Everybody likes the end results of a miracle, but no one likes the waiting process. Yet it is in the waiting that He actually proves He is God in response to your absolute dependency on Him. Waiting puts you in the position to know that Satan cannot rob you, and that it is impossible for God to be "late" (The God Catchers, p. 86).

David clearly understood the concept of waiting on God. He didn't offer us theory, conjecture, or imagination when he wrote about waiting in the Psalms. He had impeccable credentials as a waiter. The prophet Samuel anointed David as Israel's new king when he was still a youth, but David didn't assume the throne until he was thirty years old. In fact, he spent most of those years waiting on God while running for his life from King Saul. He waited, worshiped, cried out, and praised God in caves, in the cities of his enemies, and in the wilderness. Later, King David even waited on God when his own son rebelled, assumed the throne, and led an army campaign to murder him. The proof of God's presence in David's life was in the waiting, and in the results produced by his waiting on Deity.

Which part of David's life do you prefer: the promise part, the waiting part, or the ruling part? Which part of your life do you prefer? Which is the most important?

The only way we can "entertain" God's presence is by waiting on Him. If we want His presence to invade our individual lives, we must learn to wait on Him individually. If we long to see His presence invade our churches or our city, then we must learn to wait on Him and serve Him in corporate unity. Remember that you must deal with first things first: Become a good waiter privately before you can effectively play a role corporately.

How are your personal "waiting skills"? Do you know how to make God feel at home in your home?

In most cases, we could maintain life and church as usual even if God "never showed up." That means we have little or no true dependency upon Him. He proves He is God as we wait upon Him in absolute dependency. Any way you look at it, we must restructure our lives and worship to restore true dependence on Deity and less dependence on humanity.

 What Do You Think? 

What will happen if we ever learn how to entertain His presence by waiting on Him? Is there any way to measure the potential of the supernatural power of God released in His people? If a city is to receive divine visitation, someone must learn how to host the Holy Spirit! (page 84)

What do you think?

Scripture Reading: Psalm 27:11-14, in which David urges us to wait patiently before the Lord.

11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies.
12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries;
For false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as breathe out violence.
13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed
That I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord;
Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

The New King James Version, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1998, c1982.

Father, I've been living far to independently lately. I renounce every independence in my life, and I announce my total and complete dependence upon You. I am completely and permanently in need of Your presence moment by moment. Apart from You I can do nothing but fail and fall. I will patiently wait on You; hungry, thirsty, and longing for Your presence.