FEMI AWODELE'S HOUSE CALL

Femi AwodeleFriday, August 3, 2007
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BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES AND LIFE APPLICATION IX
- "THEY THAT WAIT ON THE LORD"

saiah 40: 31 "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"


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Psalms 37: 34 "Wait for the Lord and keep His way. He will exalt you to inherit the land"

Acts 1: 4 "Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about"

Principle

  • When we wait on the Lord, it brings blessings (waiting precedes the blessing).

What is waiting on the Lord?

Waiting on the Lord is the period between when He [God] gives you a promise and when the promise is realized. Abraham was promised a son when he was 75 years old, he was 100 years old when Isaac was born, waiting 25 years for the promised son. Moses knew he was to be the deliverer if the Israelites when he was 40 years old, he led the Israelites out of Egypt when he was 80 years old, waiting 40 years to carry out his purpose on earth, and David waited about 25 years after he was anointed king by Prophet Samuel, before he actually sat on the throne as the king in Israel.

Personally, full time ministry started for me in March 2001 and my first public speaking on marriage was the next June at a friends church where I spoke to five people, all of them friends and sympathizers, by December 2004, I was burnt out and wanted out of full time ministry (I was doing spiritual things with business strategies and not waiting on the Lord for directions). I called my former company's HR director who now has a bigger portfolio within the company. I remember sitting across the table from him with my friend (Mike Oji) at a Secaucus NJ restaurant discussing a position we had talked about before I flew down and now I'm telling him that "God wanted me to wait on Him and to trust Him".

The last two-three years has been an amazing time of waiting and trusting on the Lord, not only in my life personally but in the life of the ministry. There was a stretch of time that I had a particular regular donor (out of 3 who give regularly) stop giving because I was waiting on that particular check monthly and not on the Lord, there was another long stretch of God filling my calendar Himself, I was not allowed cold call or even send ministry information (sounds crazy but He was faithful). Since December 2004, I can safely say I have an idea what it is to wait and trust on the Lord.

Waiting on the Lord indicates there is already a promise on hand, it could be having a child, marrying a god-fearing spouse, waiting for breakthrough in that lousy marriage, starting a ministry, building a new church facility, hitting it big with that business idea, starting a church and many more personal promises God has made to you.

Why the waiting period?

As one study the lives of people God used to accomplish great purposes in the Bible, there is a pattern of promise, waiting and fulfillment. I've also noticed that while these men or women focus on the promise they have in hand and the fulfillment, God is more focus on the journey they take to the destination, He [God] is more concerned about the character they build on the journey and the relationship developed between Himself and that person.

In Genesis 12 : 1-3, God called Abram out of his father's house to journey with Him and gave him seven promises, will make you a great nation, will bless you, will make your name great, you will be a blessing, will bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you and peoples n earth would be blessed through you. At the time of this promise Abram was 75 years old and his wife about 65 years old; they had no children, yet the promises of God to Abram hinges on having a child to carry the legacy on. It took another 25 years for the promise of a son made to Abraham (then 100 years) and Sarah (90 years) to be fulfilled when Isaac was born. In those 25 years Abraham became so close to God that he was called a friend of God, he even trusted God with the life of the son on Mount Moriah.

Joseph was 17 years old when he had his first dream about his family bowing to him. His dreams irritated his step-brothers who wanted nothing to do with serving their baby brother, things even got more complicated when their daddy, Jacob showed favoritism to Joseph. The brothers thought of killing Joseph when he brought them supplies in the field, but they sold him off, thinking his dream or God's plan would never materialize because he is now a slave. He was sold into Potiphar's household, only for his master's wife to be attracted to him, being accused of what he did not do, he ended up in jail until he interpreted Pharaoh's dream. It took 13 years from when Joseph had his first dream to when he became the prime-minister of Egypt and another 7 years or more before his family bowed to him as he saw in his dreams.

Joseph sure learn that God's timing is better than anyone else, after been forgotten in pit by his brother, forgotten in prison by the king's butler, and in both cases elevated to a higher position. He learnt not to hold grudge because everything always work out for those who love God and are called according to His [god] purpose. Twice he went from shame to fame, from being on a slave trading bloc to being the head of Potiphar's household, and from prison to being the prime-minister of Egypt.

We can look into the Bible for more stories of men who waited on the Lord, Moses waited 40 years after he knew he would be the deliverer, David waited about 25 years after he was anointed king by Samuel before he sat on the throne.

Moses learnt humility and total reliance on God; he went from being the nephew of the most powerful man in the world, from being alumni of the best schools in the world, from walking with kings and noble people, to being a shepherd that rear sheep in a foreign land. He learnt patience, something perhaps he lacked as a prince in Egypt because people waited on him. He learnt that things were not in his power but in the name of the Lord.

David had just being successful in killing the giant, goliath of Philistine, and was being pursued his own king [Saul]. While running from Saul, he was housed by the same Philistines that he killed their giant (that is called favor - when you are housed and fed by your enemy). David learnt the mercies of God when he had the opportunity to kill King Saul twice but did not do it and the subsequent protection God accorded his men and himself as they move from one place to another.

The lives of these men show a God that is particular about having relationship with us, shaping us into His mold and building a strong character that would sustain us when we reach the promise land (the purpose He has for us). The lives of these men reveal refined people that learned to walk with God in the waiting period, there is nothing more fulfilling that having a close relationship and being called God's friend, in-spite of any achievement in the world.

What to do when waiting?

In our world today, the waiting period is now very complicated with the desire to have material wealth and have it now, the desire to be known and be popular, and the instant gratification attitude brought on by expert marketing strategies (credit card etc). What we are going through in our generation however does not change the principles of God of refining us for a relationship through waiting on Him.

Knowing the words of God is very critical to your sustenance in the waiting period, the Bible says, "and you will know the truth, [the truth you know] and it will set you free". When waiting there will be other options brought on by the devil and even advice from friends (more like what happened to Job), but when you know the truth [Christ himself as the truth and His words as truth], you will be able to say no to advice that is contrary to the word.

The gift of discernment is also crucial in the waiting period. Discernment comes as your relationship with the Lord grows; it comes from constant study, constant prayer and constant communion. My boys can pick up my voice or their mom's voice in a crowd, in-fact we have a special whistle as a family to call ourselves when we go to a store or wherever we go and we split up. A close relationship with God bring about you knowing when He speaks to you, either as a gentle voice, in a vision or however He speaks to you, and with time you will be able to tell when He is speaking without the fear of "is this God or not".

As humans, discouragement comes when we are waiting and some of us often compromise. I recently met with a lady who said to me "I told God to take the guy [an unbeliever] away yet he kept pursuing me, so I thought God must be saying I should marry him". Many times in the waiting period we do what we want and say we heard God, remember the TV evangelist that said God told him to divorce? (he could have divorced on his own without bringing God into his selfish sorry state). During the waiting period get a good friend or a band of praying friends to hold you accountable, this is very essential to the waiting period, they will be able to uphold you in prayer and with godly counsel when your flesh or even spirit is weak.

Immerse yourself in the Bible and in prayer, memorize scripture that pertains to your situations and remind your self of God's promise and remind Him of His words (which He said would not come back to Him without fulfilling what it was sent to accomplish). Lately, I've enjoyed praying the scriptures, more like "Lord. I thank you for my pastor friends because they will not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, that they would not seek counsel from the wicked, Lord I pray that these under-shepherds will meditate on your word day and night, with all their heart they will seek you and teach undiluted word to your people."

The blessing of waiting

Romans 8: 28 is one of my favorite scriptures, because to me it brings together whatever event I go through under the arm of the Alpha and Omega, it says "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose". Rather than write I'll highlight some of the benefit of waiting on God

  • Fulfillment of His promise at the appointed time (not too early not too late - definitely not your timing)

  • A close intimate relationship with God from experiences in the valley (like Moses, Abraham, David, Paul etc)

  • Inheritance of the land

  • Running and not grow weary, walking and not faint (strength and courage)

  • Mounting up with wings as eagles (soar high above the circumstances)

When you learn to wait on the Lord and for His timing, His purpose is achieved in your life; your heritage on earth will last till He returns. Today we read about biblical men who learnt to wait and in contemporary times we read of men like Billy Graham, A.J Tozier, D.L. Moody, Smith Wigglesworth, the Wesley Brothers, Martin Luther etc. whose ministries continue to have impact on lives years after many of them are dead.

I don't know what it is that God has promised you as you read this article, but I know that He who promised is able to fulfill that promise, however, His timing is not your timing, while you might be concerned about getting the promise, He desires a relationship with you as you journey to that purpose, so that when He exalts you and you inherit the land, you will direct the glory to Him and not toward yourself.

Remain Blessed

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