Missing Peace: Why is God Making Me Wait

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

For those who do not know me, my name is Brandon and I am our student pastor here. And it’s good to be here again with you guys this weekend. Now I have to make a quick plug because I was told by the student team, if I didn’t, they were going to come after me. We have new student merch, alright? So get pumped up about that. Parents, good stocking stuffers. Okay, coming out soon, so keep your eyes open. But yeah, I’m super excited and man, can I just say the past two weekends have been absolutely incredible, amen. With Winter Wonderland, it’s been absolutely incredible and I just want to say on behalf of the elders, on behalf of the staff, thank you to every volunteer who came before, decorated this place, make it look absolutely magical and beautiful. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped during Winter Wonderland. I know many of you, you served once and for some of you, you served all four. You’re crazy, but we love crazy. And I want to thank the families who showed up and I want to thank all the families who God put it on their heart and you followed through and you invited someone, you invited a coworker or you invited a friend or you invited a family member. This past couple weekends would not have been possible without you. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now one of the worst feelings in the world is to wait, right? I made some of you guys nervous, you thought: “I forgot.” One of the worst feelings in the world is to wait, especially when it comes to waiting on God. See some of you, you know exactly what I’m talking about immediately when I say that statement, some of you, you feel like you’ve been waiting on God, some of you are praying and you’re wondering, “God, are you even listening to me? God, are you even there? God, do you hear my prayer?” Some of you, you’re praying for something. I don’t know what it is. Maybe you’re praying for God to heal migraines in your mind, to heal your body physically. Maybe you’re praying that God would bring a loved one to Christ. Maybe you’re praying that God would give you a better job with better benefits so you can better provide for your family.

Maybe you’re praying God would simply heal you of your depression, maybe heal your broken marriage. Maybe that God would just send you a spouse. And yet, the more you pray, the less you see and the more you wonder, “God, where are you?” God, where are you? Some of you, you’ve been praying and you’ve been begging and you’ve been waiting and you’ve been asking and you’ve been longing and you’ve been believing, you’ve been believing that God can do it, but he has not done it yet. And so you’re wondering, “God, are you even listening to my prayers?” God, are you even close to my problem? See, I believe that we actually hate waiting so much that often in the waiting when we’re waiting on God, we tend to try to find an easier, faster, quicker way to get ahead of God and get to the solution.

We hate waiting so much that in the waiting, we often believe the lie that God is not actually for us. And this has actually been a condition of man since the beginning of time, that we hate waiting on God and that we believe the lie that God doesn’t have our best interests at heart. You remember the story. In the beginning, God created man and he said, “It was good, but it’s not good for man to be alone.” So he creates Adam and Eve, he says, “They are good together, be fruitful and multiply.” And Adam said, “Oh man.” And he was excited, right? And God said, “Enjoy everything I’ve created for you. Enjoy it all but not from this one tree.” Not from this one tree. God says, “I’m not trying to forbid you from fun. I’m actually trying to free you for life and blessings.” God says, “I love you. I’m for you. I’m in your corner.” But unfortunately, Adam and Eve believed the lie that God didn’t have their best interests at heart.

And so Eve eats from the tree and then Adam follows, and then they were ashamed and then life was not as good as it was when they were in the garden. And then we see another story, Abraham and Sarah. God promises them a child, Isaac, but he says, “You’re going to wait, and you’re going to wait 25 years.” And in the waiting, Abraham and Sarah started to believe the lie, that God wasn’t for them and that God wasn’t going to follow through. So Abraham sleeps with another woman, has another child apart from Sarah, and then all the hardships and the struggles follow along because they jumped ahead of God, because they believed a lie, that in the waiting. that God wasn’t for them.

This has been a condition of man since the beginning of time that we struggle in the waiting. The title of today’s message is:

“Why is God Making Me Wait?”

Why is God making me wait? And I see many of you nodding your heads. You know exactly what I’m talking about and I want to show you from scripture today what God is actually doing while you are waiting. What God is actually doing while you’re waiting, see, waiting is actually a theme all throughout scripture. It’s all throughout scripture. And if you’ve ever felt like God is taking a long time, if you’ve ever asked the question, “God, what are you doing? God, have you not heard my prayer? I’ve asked a thousand times.” I want to show you in scripture that there’s a lot of people in the Bible who felt the exact same way, and they especially felt this way when they were waiting on God to send a savior.

And I don’t know if you know this, but there’s actually a period of history that’s not recorded in scripture and it’s called: The Intertestamental Period. And what that is, it’s the period of 400 years between the time when the Old Testament ended and the New Testament began. It was this time in between. It was also known as: The Greatest Time of Silence.” And so you have this 400 year period, the Old Testament ends in the book of Malachi, 400 years passed, no word from God. And then the New Testament begins in the book of Matthew. And here, they didn’t hear a word from the Lord in this 400 years. And because God wasn’t speaking at all, I’m sure they preferred for the Old Testament God, who was speaking the whole time, while they were still waiting on a savior, at least God was still speaking.

But now God’s not speaking at all and they’re praying and they’re wondering, “God, where are you?” And I believe there’s probably many of you here this morning who feel the exact same way. Hopefully it’s not going to be 400 years for God to answer you, but I believe maybe there’s many of you here, and you feel like you’ve been praying for something. You feel like you have enough faith for something, that you’re believing for something enough. You believe that God has your best interest at heart, but yet nothing has happened. You haven’t seen God move. You haven’t seen God be active, you haven’t seen a sign. And at this point you’re just saying, “All I want is an answer. Any answer would work. God, would you please just show me that you’re active? God, would you just give me a sign? Would you give me a feeling? Would you give me anything?”

And yet, for some of us, we still have received nothing at all. What is God doing while you are waiting? What is God doing when he seems so silent? And I want to encourage you this morning, I want to encourage you, just because God is silent doesn’t mean that he’s absent. Because while you are waiting:

God is working.

While you are waiting, God is working. And I want you to know that waiting is a part of who God is. It’s in his DNA, but I want you to know that he has divine reason behind while we wait. While you are waiting, God is working. God does love you. He does have your best interests at heart. He is in your corner. He is for you. While you’re waiting, God is working. And so this morning, I want us together to jump into scripture and learn and be able to answer the question:

Why is God making you wait?

Why is God making you wait? And so if you’re here this morning and you’re taking notes, the first reason why God might be making you wait is:

To protect you.

To protect you. Someone say God’s protection. Yes. Isn’t God’s protection so good? I mean, sometimes, God is going to make you wait because he wants to protect you from something or he wants to protect you for something. I don’t know if you’ve ever been in this boat, but there has been many times that I’ve prayed and I’ve asked God to give it to me immediately. And lemme tell you, I’m so thankful that God loves his children and wants to protect his children because I dodged a lot of bullets, because God wanted to protect me. And we actually see God do this all throughout scripture, but one in particular. With the nation of Israel, they were in captivity for 400 years. 400 years, and then God is finally ready to release them.

But when God releases them, he makes them go the long way around to the promised land, and not the shortest. And I can only imagine, I can only imagine being an Israelite and being like, “You’ve had me in captivity for 400 years, God, and you’re going to make me wait a little bit longer when you know there’s a faster way to go?” And the reality is God was protecting them for the promise that he had for ’em. We see in Exodus chapter 13, it says this, picking up in verse 17 says:

“When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through the Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land.”

Exodus 13:17

I want to stop right there because there’s some of you this morning, you want the shortest route to God’s promise. You don’t want God’s protection, but it’s God’s protection that’s actually going to get you to the promise that he has for you. And it goes on to say, it says:

“God said, ‘If the people are faced with the battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.'”

Exodus 13:17-18

Do you hear that? God said, “If I was to take you the shortest route, if I was to take you the fastest route, there’s a good chance you’re going to turn around, miss out on my protection, miss out on the promise and go straight back into captivity.” And it goes on to say:

“So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness towards the Red Sea. Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.”

Exodus 13:17-18

See, the reality is God might have you waiting because he wants to protect you for a promise that he has for you. If God had not taken them the long way around, they would’ve went back into captivity, and you might be waiting this morning, and it’s simply because God wants to protect you from making the wrong choices. You might be waiting this morning because God wants to protect you from getting into the wrong relationships. God’s wanting to protect you from getting hurt. Simply, God wants to give you what he promised, but he wants to do it in a safe and loving way. You might be waiting this morning and it’s simply because God has your best interests at heart and he wants to protect you, his child. The second reason why you might be waiting this morning is:

He wants your eyes fixed on him and not his promise.

He wants your eyes fixed on him and not his promises. And often when it comes to God, when it comes to God, we often get caught up in the promises that God has for us. See, God doesn’t want us to put our faith and our trust in the promise, but rather in him, he wants you to rely on him and to recognize that he’s the source in which all blessings flow. See, often when God gives us a promise, we often get so excited about the promise that we are more caught up in what God is going to do for us instead of what God wants to do in us. In other words, often we get more obsessed with the blessing instead of the blesser. Amen. Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. We get more obsessed and more lost in the promise, but God wants your eyes fixed on him. God doesn’t want you to believe the lie, that you’re the reason that you earned the blessing. God doesn’t want you to get lost in that. It actually says in Colossians three, one through two, it says this:

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek to things above where Christ is seat at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above and not earthly things. “

Colossians 3:1-2

This is saying, set your mind on God, on heavenly things. Do not get lost in the promise that God has for you because all of the glory, all the riches that you’re looking for, it’s found in Christ alone. Set your mind on things above when you’re waiting for promise to come to fruition. I mean, I think we all can agree it’s really difficult to see God’s hand moving in the waiting, but it’s in the waiting. It’s in the waiting that we are reminded that it’s God who blesses us and it’s not our own efforts. It’s in the waiting that we have the opportunity to place our faith and our trust in him to be grateful for his provisions and to recognize his divine plan that he has over us. God wants us to remain in that state of faith.

He wants us to remain trusting in him and relying on him knowing that he’s faithful and that he will fulfill the promise that he has set before. You might be here this morning and you’re in a season of waiting and you might be waiting because God loves you so much and he wants to protect you. You might be waiting simply because God needs to shift your eyes from the promise onto him. The third reason why you might be waiting is:

The time is not right.

The time is not right. And I believe this is the hardest pill to swallow. Some of us, if this is the reason why you’re waiting, you don’t like this answer, right? You don’t like this answer. We don’t like the answer that the time is not right. But we live in a fast paced world and we often see waiting as a burden. We often see waiting as a burden because we want instant results. We want immediate success and we want swift answers to our prayers.

The world says right now, but God says to wait. And I mean, there are a lot of good stories all throughout scripture. When God said, “It’s not time yet, it’s not time yet…” But perhaps probably one of the best stories is a story of King David. And see, King David, as he was waiting to ascend to the throne, he had to go through a waiting season and he learned that waiting is actually not a sign of weakness. That waiting’s not a burden, but it’s actually an opportunity for growth and to trust in God’s timing. See, as King David was waiting to take the throne, David had to navigate through years of challenges and hardships and even threats to his life. David first started off as a shepherd, and then he became a warrior and then he became a loyal servant to the king Saul, all while patiently awaiting to become king someday.

And during his waiting, David learned probably one of the most valuable lessons that we can learn. He learned a lot about his faith. He learned a lot about humility. He learned a lot about dependency on God. Essentially, what happened is he didn’t waste his waiting. And in his waiting, he learned to deepen his faith with God through prayer and through worship. See, and instead of allowing impatience and frustration to get ahold of us when the time is not right, David used the waiting. He didn’t waste the waiting. He used the waiting to hone his skills, to be prepared for the promise when the time was right. See, some of you need to know this morning, some of you need to know, that God’s delay doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s God’s denial. Amen. Some of you believe God has denied you of a promise that he gave you long ago and you believe the delay means that it’s his denial.

But we need to understand it’s not always that case. And likewise in our own lives, we have to find ourselves when we’re in a season of waiting and you might be waiting for the breakthrough in your job. You might be waiting for the breakthrough with your spouse or for healing or for a door of opportunity to open up. And it’s in these moments of uncertainty. It’s in these moments of anticipation that our character is redefined and our trust and God can deepen. See, it’s in the waiting that we learn patience and perseverance and the importance of surrendering our desires to God’s perfect plans. It’s in the waiting that God often molds us into the person that we need to be to be prepared for the promise that he has for us. You know what I love about God? God is never late. He’s never too early, but he’s right on time. He’s right on time. And you might be here this morning and you are waiting, and God just wants to protect you. You’re waiting and God wants to shift your perspective back onto him. You might be waiting and God’s just simply saying, “The time is not right, but my timing is perfect.” And the last reason you might be waiting this morning is:

God might actually be waiting on you.

You might actually be waiting on God, but God is waiting on you. See, God may have it ready, but you may not be ready because you have yet to take this step that God has called you to see. Some of us, we pray and we pray and we pray and we pray and we ask and we tell God, “God, if you just give me the job, God, if you just open the door of opportunity, God, if you just give me the relationship, God, if you just give me a good health report this time, then I will do my part. Then I will take my next spiritual step.” See, while you’re awaiting, God might actually be waiting on you, but I just want to ask a question: Why would God send us something else? Why would God call us to something else? Why would God open another door to somewhere else when we have yet to walk through the door that he’s already placed in front of us? I mean, the reality is you might be waiting on God, but God might be waiting on you to forgive that person that you said you can’t forgive.

The reality is God, you might be waiting on him, but he’s waiting on you to finally accept Jesus into your heart and make him the Lord and the savior of your life. You might be waiting on God and God needs you to let that hurt go so you can move forward for what he has for you. You might be waiting on God, but God is saying, “I’ve been wanting you, forever, to join a life group because if you knew what community would do for you, it would allow you to step into the promise that I have for you.” See, some of you, you’re here this morning and you’re in a season of waiting. You’re in a season of waiting and the question becomes, what do we do when we’re in the waiting? What do we do when we’re in the waiting? When we’re in the waiting and God wants to protect you? What do we do? When we’re in the waiting and God says, “Yes, I have that promise for you, but I want to shift your eyes back to me.” When you’re in the waiting, and God says, “It’s just not time yet, but I’m always on time, so you need to trust my timing.” When you’re in the waiting and God’s actually waiting on you, what are you supposed to do in the waiting?

I believe the best thing you can do in the waiting is abide in the Lord.

Abide in the Lord. So what do I mean when I say abide in the Lord? I mean, stay steadfast. Stay the course. Do not opt out and try to jump ahead of God, stay the course, abide in the Lord. I don’t know if you know it. While you are waiting, God is working. See, many of you, you believe God’s not for you. God is for you. God is in your corner. God wants what’s best for you. While you’re waiting, God is working. So we need to abide in the Lord. Jesus said it this way in John 15, four, he says:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.”

John 15:4

We have to abide in the Lord and the waiting, and if we do, he will abide in us. It goes on in Romans 8:28. It says this:

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Romans 8:28

In the waiting, God is working all of it out. God loves you. He’s for you. He’s in your corner in the waiting. He’s sorting everything out for your good. It says in Proverbs chapter three, five through six:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding, don’t get lost in the waiting. Stay step fast, abide in the Lord and seek his will in all that you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

While you are waiting, you don’t see it, but God is carving out a beautiful path that he’s leading you down. You just got to stay the course. You got to abide in the Lord. You got to abide in the Lord while you’re waiting. God is working. And I know there’s many of you here this morning. You have been hurting deeply because in the waiting, you’ve believed the lie that God is far from your problem. In the waiting, you’ve believed the lie that God has not heard your prayers. You believe in the waiting that God doesn’t love you as much as he truly does. But we have to maybe, in the waiting, realize that God actually wants to protect you and keep you from a dangerous thing or a dangerous decision. You have to realize in the waiting that yes, the promise is good, but it’s not as good as the one who blesses it. Maybe in the waiting, God just says, “Slow down. It’s in my timing and I promise you it’s perfect.” Or maybe in the waiting, God just says, “I’m waiting on you. I’m waiting on you to be obedient and to take a step of faith.” But I know there’s many of you here this morning. You have been lost in the waiting.

You’ve been lost in the waiting and hurting. And in a moment, in a moment, I just want to pray over you. And right now I just want to talk to the Christian in the room, and I want to invite you just to bow your head. And I want you to think through the four things that I’ve talked about this morning, the four different ways in which God might have you waiting. And I just want you to confirm in your life right now, why is God making me wait? God, are you doing it to protect me? To shift my focus because the time’s not right? Or maybe you’re waiting on me to be obedient Lord. And I just want you to clearly identify how you think the Lord is having you wait in this season and right now, we’re just going to take a moment and we’re just going to pray. We’re going to pray that in the waiting, we can recognize that God is working and that you can abide in the Lord, that you can abide in the Lord. And so Jesus right now, for those in the room that are in a season of waiting and that recognize that it’s actually your protection that you’ve placed on their life right now:

God, I pray right now that we would just have a heart of gratitude. God, thank you for loving us so much that you want to protect your children and to keep us from danger. But God, I pray for that person who you’re given protection right now, God give them strength to abide in you. God, right now, I pray for the person who’s in the season of waiting, but God, they need to shift their eyes from the promise back onto you. God, I pray that you would give them the perspective to understand that God, you are so much sweeter and you are so much better than the promise you’ve placed in our life. But God, I pray in that waiting God, as you shift their perspective, that God, that they can abide in you and stay steadfast. God, I pray for the person who’s here this morning and the hard answer is the timing is just not right. God, I pray for them to trust in your timing that God, which is perfect and better than ours. God, I pray that they would know in the season of waiting that God, you are working everything out for the good of those who love you. And so God, I just pray for the person the time that’s not just right yet, God, that they would be able to abide in you and stay the course and stay steadfast. And God, for the last person in the room, I just want to pray for them right now, those that have been waiting on you, but God, you’ve actually been waiting on them. God, you’ve been waiting on them to be obedient. God, you’ve been waiting on them to be obedient and forgiveness, God in accepting you into their heart. God, you’ve been waiting on them to step into a life group. God, you’ve been waiting on them to ask for forgiveness and to take that next step, God. God I just pray right now, would you just give them supernatural courage, God, to do what you’re asking them to do, to step through the door that you’ve opened for them to step into the calling that you have for ’em. God, would you just release them to be able to be obedient, to abide in you Lord and stay steadfast of what you’ve called them to God. I lift everyone up right now in a season of waiting the Lord you would help us, abide in you as you abide in us in Jesus’ name. amen and amen.

And I want to just continue to pray this morning and I want to talk to the person in the room that: you are far from God this morning. You’ve been waiting on God, but God’s actually been waiting on you. God’s been waiting on you to surrender to him, to accept Jesus into your heart and to make heaven your home. And God has tried time and time and time and time again to get your attention. And you keep telling yourself and believing that God, if you just do what I asked you to do, God, if you’ll just do this, if you will just do that, then I will believe in you. You’re waiting on God, but God’s waiting on you and I want it to encourage you with something this morning. God has already did his part. God did his part over 2000 years ago when he sent his son Jesus to die on a cross on our behalf so that someday we could go home with helm in heaven. And maybe you’re here this morning and you’ve been waiting on God, but God’s waiting on you to receive his grace, his love, and his mercy. And if you’re here this morning, maybe you’re here and you’re saying, “I’m finally ready. I’m finally ready to trust in God. I want to know you. I want to make heaven my home. And God, I do want to have peace, but I’m not sure how.”

But Jesus tells us this in John chapter three, verse three. He says:

“Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:3

And so the real question becomes:

Have you been born again?

Have you been born again? And if you haven’t been born again, the good news is you can right now. And what I love about Jesus is he made everything really simple. He never complicated anything. And so that’s why we say that being born again is as easy as A, B and C.

The letter “A” means to admit.

To simply admit that you have sin in your life, that you have fallen short of God’s glory and that there is something in you that is broken. And I want to encourage you if that’s hard to do, all of us have been there. We have all fallen short of God’s glory. We have all sinned. And so I want you to know you’re not alone, but you have to admit that you’re a sinner.

The letter “B” means to you believe.

It means you have to believe that Jesus is who he says that he is; that he stepped out of heaven and he lived a life that you and I could not live and then died on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins. But three days later, he conquered the grave so that someday we could go home to heaven with him. So you have to believe that Jesus is who he says that he is.

The letter “C” means to confess.

It means to simply confess that God, you are now the Lord of my life. I lay it down to you, I give it to you because while you’re awaiting God, I’m going to trust that you’re working. And so if you’re here this morning, I just want to invite you to bow your head. And in a moment, in a moment, I’m just going to ask if you want to be included on the Born Again prayer, in a moment, I’m just going to ask you to raise your hand.

But as we continue to pray this morning, maybe you’re here and you would say, “Brandon, I’m ready for a fresh start. I’m ready to have all my sins forgiven and I’m ready to make heaven my home.” If you’re here this morning and you want to be included on the Born Again prayer, would you just lift your hand right now? You just raise your hand up high? Alright, well, I want to invite everyone to look up at the screen for me.

Maybe you’re here this morning and maybe it was just tough for you to raise your hand, but I still believe if God is still speaking to you and you want to give your heart, you can still do that. And so right now, I’m going to invite everyone in the room. We’re just going to read this prayer together. I’m going to read the Born Again Prayer because it reminds us how good Jesus was to us and how good God is. And so this is what it says. Read it together:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you’re the son of God. I believe that on a cross, you took my sin, my shame, my guilt, and you die for it. You faced hell for me so I wouldn’t have to go. You rose from the dead to give me a place in heaven, a purpose on earth and a relationship with your Father. Today, Lord Jesus, I turn from my sin to be born again. God is my Father. Jesus is my Savior. The Holy Spirit is my helper, and heaven is now my home. And Jesus’ name, amen. Amen.”

Let’s celebrate this morning. God has been good. He’s still good and he’s on his throne. And I just want to say if there was someone here this morning and you accepted Jesus, I just want you to know that we still celebrate you. And I want you to know that scripture says that all of heaven right now is throwing one big party because you just made the best decision you could ever make. And so right now, I want to invite everyone in the room just to stand, and as we’re going to enter into this last time of worship, I just want to encourage you that while you’re waiting, God is working and that as we go into this time of worship. I want to challenge you to lift up your hearts and to give your praise to God because he is worthy.