I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 27:13,14
When it comes to doing business of any type, the natural inclination is to assess the situation, come up with the best course of action, implement it, and then move on to the next project at hand. This may work in the business arena or the secular world, but when it comes to God’s house it is totally different.
The church of the living God indeed belongs to God! It was established by Him, leadership ordained and appointed by Him, and more importantly, the people are His and His alone. Therefore, God must be consulted about every facet of the church for the church to remain in His perfect will. There is a tendency to bring business savvy, natural intelligence, and experience to bear which will inevitably lead to the church being run by flesh rather than God. Thus the church falls into the category of doing “church work” as oppose to “kingdom work”.
By nature humans are impatient. Things must be done now; tasks accomplished in a timely fashion to show progressiveness, and sadly, competitiveness. Unfortunately, this mindset has seeped into the church rendering God’s house to a mere business rather than a body of baptized believers being “Spirit” led.
The scriptures offer more than enough evidence as to what happens when God’s people prove impatient or rely on the arm of flesh. The cry of the people triggered Moses’ impatience, resulting in him being excluded from the Promised Land (Numbers 20:10-12). Joshua, taking advice from the reconnaissance team searching out Ai rather than consulting God, suffered a segment of his army to fall before their enemy (Joshua 7:1-5). Contention and many other problems abounded in the church at Corinth because “flesh” dominated rather than the Spirit of God, resulting in division and strife among its members (1 Corinthians 1:11; 5:1; 6:1; 11:18; 15:12).
In the midst of uncertain times, economic downturns, and immediate questions with no apparent answers, it’s easy to make rash decisions that will have negative and far-reaching outcomes. David offers the church of today sound biblical counsel; “wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14). He cautions not to do anything until a clear definitive answer is heard from God. During the interim, realizing fear and doubt is always prevalent, he admonishes strength will come from God only if courage is summoned. David realizing waiting on God is an extremely difficult task to accomplish, particularly when gainsayers are watching eagerly for an anticipated failure, emphatically says again CONTINUE TO WAIT!
Waiting on God is not a popular course of action. Every- thing familiar seems to come to a screeching halt. Anxiety will indeed visit from time to time. Advice, opinions, and the dreaded “if I were you” syndrome abound all around. Thank God for the still small voice that brings comfort saying “fear not, I am with you”.
A closing thought is in order for the anxious and impatient spirit during those endless days of waiting on God—it’s not what can be done for God but rather what He is able and has already prepared for the patient and contented in spirit.