Some Things Take Time

Psalms 25 : 1 - 5, To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; let me not be ashamed; let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day. NKJV

Do you find it difficult to wait upon the Lord to come to your defense? As I was seeking the Lord about today's devotion, He instructed me to write on the subject of waiting on God. When you're engaged in a spiritual battle that has manifested in a natural situation, it's tempting to want to step out ahead of God and miss His moment of deliverance or breakthrough.

The enemy will use natural events to maximize pressure against us in the hope of getting us to respond to him in our strength instead of waiting on God's strength. We know that God has promised us that He will cause all things to work together for our good. If we know this, then we must remind ourselves of this promise when we are faced with the mounting pressures that can push us into acting on our own. Over and again, we are instructed to wait upon the salvation of the Lord and not be moved by Satan's attacks.

You and I both know that God could arrive on the scene of a storm the very moment it occurred, but He doesn't always. Sometimes, He allows us to wait on Him, so He can accomplish more than just getting us out of "hot water." Here's the key: When we wait on God through faith, it is our faith that gives God an opportunity to make an impossible situation become a miraculous event. Do you remember when God instructed Moses and the children of Israel to be still at the Red Sea even though Pharaoh and His army was on their heels? When they decided to be still, it gave God the time needed to roll back the waters of the sea and allow them to cross on dry land. Could God have already had the waters parted before they got to the shores of the Red Sea? Yes.

This tells me that there is something even greater going on when we decide to wait through faith on God's delivering power to come on the scene. He is building us in our faith so that we aren't moved by the threats of Satan's attacks against us. This brings us to the point of today's word. All Christians are in the midst of a process called conversion. Jesus told Simon Peter that Satan had asked to have Simon so that he could sift him as wheat. After Jesus shared the request of Satan to have Simon, He told Simon that when he was converted, he would be able to strengthen his brethren.

The conversion process is at work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, and He is transforming us into the image of Christ. As long as we remain submitted to the process by waiting on God's timing and not jumping out of the oven prematurely, He will continue to strengthen, encourage, and build us up in our hearts. Be careful that you don't allow the fear of facing a trial cause you to move without God's direction. By doing this, we can abort the process in our lives and disrupt God's plan to deliver us without repercussions. God only thinks good thoughts toward us and has good plans for us. He wants to prosper us... not harm us, His children. We can reciprocate that love through trusting that He knows best.

If you're being pressured today because of adverse situations, then ask the Lord to strengthen you to wait until He shows up. Think of it as if this is Christmas Eve, and God has some gifts waiting for you, but you must wait until morning. Sorrow may endure for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Lord, Am I Done Yet?
Pastor Asa