In this insightful episode of the InTouch Podcast, we explore the profound concept of waiting on God and its significance in our spiritual journey. Waiting is often viewed as a passive act, but Dr. Charles Stanley reveals that it is an ‘active stillness’ where we continue to follow God’s current instructions while anticipating further guidance. Through key biblical passages, listeners are encouraged to view waiting as an essential part of God’s plan, a time for reflection, growth, and readiness for future blessings.
Welcome to the InTouch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, February 17th. Waiting often seems like a waste of time, but that’s not the case when you’re waiting on God. Here’s biblical instruction to help you embrace waiting as a valuable time of discovery.
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I was thinking the other day of all the principles I have ever studied and learned in the Word of God. Which one stands above all the rest? It didn’t take me long to figure out that one of those that always comes close to the top, if not the top, is this simple principle of waiting upon God. It’s not the easiest one by a long shot, but timing with God is everything. And I think about how many people never even consider the fact that God has a plan for their life. They go to school, they get an education, they choose some area of life to work in, to labor in, and then they head out with all their plans without ever stopping to think, well, God, why did You create me? What was Your purpose? What was Your plan? And therefore, where am I at this point in that plan? And to ignore God’s plan and to ignore His timing in living out that plan is a disaster. So, I want you to turn, if you will, to the twenty-seventh Psalm. And I want us to read beginning in verse eleven of this twenty-seventh Psalm. David is speaking. He says, Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a level path. Because of my foes. Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries. For false witnesses have risen against me, and such as breathe out violence. Listen to what he says. I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. Now, waiting on God is not what most people think. It doesn’t mean that you just do nothing. God may have you very, very active in what you’re doing or where you’re doing it or with whom you’re doing it. That’s the only part of the plan. Waiting does not mean that you’re doing nothing. It doesn’t mean that you are just moving along and just waiting on God, waiting on God. No, it’s sort of an active stillness. I’m doing what God has called me to do up to this point, and I’m waiting for Him. Quietly, I’m waiting for Him for the next step. Timing with God is very important. Listen, only He knows when you’re ready for certain things in your life. Only He knows when you can handle certain blessings in your life. Only He knows the dangers out there that you face. And He knows where you’re strong and He knows where you’re weak. And oftentimes He’s saying, not now, not now, not now, because He sees that area of your life that to have it now would be a disaster. You won’t be able to handle it. Pride will destroy you. Jealousy or whatever. It may be that He has something for you that’s in the middle of real strife. He has to get you ready for that. Many people walking in the will of God are suffering. Many people walking in the will of God are not suffering. He chooses for each of us what He knows we personally need at that particular point in our life. So, we have a choice. I can decide I’m not waiting any longer and step out of God’s will and do it my way. There is no way to win. Listen to me carefully. There is no way to win. There is no way to have real peace and happiness and joy in your life when you’re out of the will of God. And when we don’t get it when we want it, and we are unwilling to wait as the Scripture encourages us to do, what happens? Then we wonder, for example, what’s going on. So, waiting is purposeful. Waiting has a sense of direction and a sense of expectancy. God, I’m willing to do whatever You want me to do in my life. What’s next? God loves His children. And He wants the best for us. And sometimes that best does not come quickly, but it comes. Now, the frequency of this admonition in Scripture is awesome. So, I’m going to give you a few passages here. And I want you to turn, first of all, to the twenty-fifth Psalm. Look here for just a moment. And the reason I want to give you these is because if you’re wise, you’ll write them down. And you’ll play them back to yourself. That is, God, what are you saying to me? Look in this twenty-fifth Psalm. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul, O my God, and you I trust. Do not let me be ashamed. Do not let my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none of those who wait for you will be ashamed. Look at that. That is, you won’t be disappointed. You won’t be ashamed if you wait upon the Lord. Then I want you to look, if you will, at the thirty-seventh Psalm. And in this first verse, he says, “‘Do not fret.'” Three times in that passage, he says, do not fret. And then beginning in the seventh verse, he says, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. That is not easy to do. And you see, he follows that immediately with do not fret again. And verse eight, do not fret. And if you’ll turn to the ninth verse, for evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Listen, God is watching over you. God’s hand is covering you. And if you and I are willing to walk in His way, His will, and His timing, He will provide everything we need and the things that our family needs or our children need. Look in the thirty-fourth verse of that thirty-seventh Psalm. Wait for the Lord and keep His way. That is, obey Him. And sometimes He doesn’t show us His plan quickly in life. And there are many people who say, well, you know, at this point in my life, I’m sixty or sixty-five, I don’t know that God’s ever had a plan for my life. Yes, He has. You say, well, suppose I miss it. Get back in His will. In other words, watch this. Are you listening? Say amen. There’s always a secondary. When people go through years of their life and nobody’s ever told them God had a plan for their life, and they get out there and years and years and years go by, and all of a sudden they realize, God had a plan for my life. I must have missed it. When He knows where you are and why you missed that plan, God is, watch this, He’s willing to show you His secondary plan. Because, for example, you grew up in a family, nobody was saved, nobody talked to you about Jesus, and so years went by, you never even thought about it. You thought you were sufficient doing what you were doing, and all of a sudden you get saved. God opens your eyes. He shows you He has a will for your life. Well, does God have a will for your life after sixty-five? Yes. He has a will for your life from the beginning to the end. He knows your past. He knows why you’re where you are. And He’s willing, listen, He’s willing to pick you up right where you are. Forgive you for the wasted time that you’ve wasted. He knows why you did. Maybe it’s on purpose, maybe it’s not on purpose. He’ll take you right where you are and He’ll give you a whole new beginning. That’s what grace is all about. Somebody says, do we have a second chance? Second, third, fourth, fifth. I mean, praise God. He doesn’t just cut us off because we missed it somewhere. But many people never catch on. But God has a plan. And timing with Him is very, very important. So, if you look in the fortieth Psalm now, and just the first verse of this fortieth Psalm, I want you to notice what he says. He says, I waited patiently for the Lord. And He inclined to me and heard my cry.” And then he talks about how God brought him up. Waiting upon Him, Lord, what do I do next? He is, listen, God doesn’t have secrets to keep from us. He’s willing to show us if we’re willing to listen. How very important that is. And then if you will look in Isaiah sixty-four four, which is one of the most important verses in the Word of God. When it comes to just living your life out, no matter how old you are, how young you are, here it is, sixty-fourth chapter and the fourth verse. Listen, “‘For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.'” Listen to that. When you and I are living in our life and trying to make decisions in our life, and God shows us something, and you say, well, is this for me now? Sometimes you’ll know that it’s not for now. But God makes you a particular promise, so He shows you what He has. And He says He acts in behalf of those who wait for Him. Now, think about this for a moment. No matter what you’re facing in life, what you need in life or the difficulties, think about this whole idea. He says that He acts. This is the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, sovereign God of the universe who says He acts. He takes action in your behalf. He acts in your behalf. He acts in the life of those who wait for Him, who seek His guidance and His direction. And if I’m waiting upon the Lord, it means that I’m acknowledging His Lordship. It means that I am seeking His guidance and His direction. And He says He acts on our behalf. Let me ask you a question. Who can do for you what God can do? Nobody. And then listen, whatever you’re facing in life, think about this. You have Almighty God acting, working sovereignly in your behalf to get you in His will, that you follow Him, and God is good to us. And one of the reasons some people say, well, God hasn’t been good to me. Well, have you allowed Him to be good? Have you decided to live your life your way? You’re just going to have it your way? And then you wonder, well, you say, well, I’m as good as other people. This has nothing to do with being good. It has to do with being obedient. And obedience is, God, I’m willing to do it Your way. You have it Your way in my life. God, I’m going to trust You. And when I’m not willing to trust Him, then I’m not going to walk in His way, then I’m going to miss God’s best in my life, whatever that might be. So, the key question comes is this. That is, why does God require us to wait for Him? The waiting’s very important with Him. And to receive His clear direction for our life is one thing. It may be that God has something fantastic, maybe next month, next year, or whatever it might be. But not today. And so, I must have clear direction. And three times in the hundred and nineteenth Psalm, look there for a moment. Hundred and nineteenth Psalm, David talks about this whole idea of waiting. And let’s start with verse seventy-four. Verse seventy-four says, May those who fear You see Me and be glad, because I wait for Your Word.” Now what? He’s just not waiting. He says, I’m waiting for God to speak. I’m waiting for clear direction. And I wonder how many times you face decisions in your life that you honestly go to the Father and ask Him to give you direction, and you wait till He answers that. You say, why does He answer it suddenly? Well, maybe because there’s something in life He needs to clear up first. It may be that what He has in store, He can’t tell you that right now. But the issue is, am I willing to be obedient to Him when I don’t see my way clear because I’m trusting Him to give guidance and direction? And no, look. I will be there at the right time if I obey Him. I’m not going to lose anything that He’s put a circle around with my name on it. Because He loves us. He doesn’t come up short. We have distorted ideas about God. Well, suppose He does this and suppose He doesn’t. Remember this. He’s a God of absolute love. He is a God of discipline because He loves us. Every single thing He does is an act of love in our behalf. But if you get up every morning, as I said before, and just take off and never give Him a thought until some trouble comes or somebody asks you some question that you can’t answer, and all of a sudden you’re thinking about, well, God, what’s the answer to that? relationship with God. That’s not the God we’re talking about here. And then look in verse eighty-one for a moment. My soul languishes for Your salvation. I wait for Your Word. And when I see, how many times He says, I wait for Your Word, I wait for Your Word, I wait for Your Word. What is He saying? I’m waiting for direction. I’m waiting for God to speak to me, to show me what to do next. So, if our goal in life is what it is with God, to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, to walk in His way, to do His will. Because the truth is, we should so live every day that people who meet us, listen, people who meet you should meet Jesus. It doesn’t mean you look like Him. It doesn’t mean any of that, but it means the Spirit within you is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And He will do all kind of things in your life that you could never imagine if you’ll just allow Him the privilege of living in you His life, living it through you on His timing, on His schedule, not someone else’s schedule. So, He says clear direction’s very important. When I think about why God requires us to wait, the second reason is to keep us in step with His timing. There is no way for me to outguess God. Well, here’s what I’m going to do, and I think it’ll all turn out right. No. I may make specific requests to God and have assurance that He will do it. But then I also have to leave the schedule to Him. People say, well, I prayed and asked God to do this and so, and I got a confirmation He was going to do it. And they expect God to do it right then. It may be that what you’ve asked Him is right in the center of God’s will, but you have to also give Him the privilege to give to you what you’ve asked for when He knows you’re ready. And sometimes you’re not ready. And I remember Andy when he was just a little boy, he saw my pocket knife and he was really impressed and he wanted one. I said, I’ll give you one. So, he thought we ought to go to the store, you know, right next, this afternoon and get one. I said, no, you have to get ready to have a pocket knife. Well, why is that? I said, because you can hurt yourself. And I showed him a few things. I said, suppose you were to cut yourself. Suppose you were in your room, for example, by yourself and you had it open and you stumbled and fell. And suppose it hit you somewhere, you just started bleeding and bleeding, scared you to death. Oh, well, he finally sort of caught on. And it was a little time before we had a pocket knife. You know what? Sometimes you and I are not able to handle the thing that God wants us to have until He knows we’re ready. When I insist on having what I want, when I want it, then what I’m saying is, God, You’re a wonderful God, but You’re not very good on timing. Somewhere You’re missing. Why can’t I have it now? We have a whole generation of people who are living in the now. They know nothing about waiting. And if you’ll think about every time we come up with some new gadget, what does it do? It saves time. Don’t forget that. He’s not in a hurry. You know why? You know why He’s not in a hurry? He already sees the end. And He knows you have time. And He knows when you get ready, you’ll have this. And when you get ready, you’ll have that. God’s timing is perfect because He doesn’t make any mistakes. You know why? He created time. and placed us in this capsule of time. And so, we live it out, and He has the best for us if we’re willing to do it His way. And sometimes He waits to give us what we ask for because He tests our faith. So, I would ask you, when you ask the Lord, do you pray in faith, trusting Him to do what He says He’ll do? Well, yes and no. And oftentimes we don’t trust Him. And so He delays certain blessings because He wants us to trust, watch this, He wants us to trust Him that if He said He would do it, He would do it. Now, if the only way for me to believe that is He promised it, well, let me see it. Listen, we all have blessings from God. He’s promised us. We haven’t seen them yet. And some people will never see them because they live disobediently before God. They either can’t wait, they’re going to do it that way, and they never even consider asking God anything. I think about some people with great potential. They rush out, great potential. They’ll rush out into this, that, and the other, never stop to ask God, and they just dwindle by the wayside. They have awesome potential, but they’re not willing to seek the mind of God to know, Lord, what and when and how. Then this waiting process sometimes is a season for strengthening our faith. And I think about what strengthens my faith? Having to wait. You see, we are interested in self-gratification and we want it right now. God says, no, this is not the time for it. And the waiting period with God is often motivated by a desire to sift down motives for our desires. Why do I want that? Why do you want that position? Why are you asking God for that? He sifts our motives. And have you not agreed at some points in life you’ve said, Lord, I know I ask you for that. Forget that prayer. That was selfish. That was lust. That was this. That was that. That was not your will and purpose for my life. And so, God delays His way because He wants to bring us around to His viewpoint. Well, what is He up to in our life? Now, you will not wait for God if this book is closed in your life. You’re just naturally going to make decisions. I can handle this. I can handle that. And the truth is, none of us can handle much in the society in which we live. And so, what does that mean? That I’m in the Word and I’m listening to what God says. I’m committed to being obedient to Him. And by His grace and strength and power, I will wait for His timing, knowing that His timing is always best in my life.
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Thank you for listening to Waiting on God’s Timing. If you’d like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
