Waiting On God To Move -2

So my meditation yesterday was a bit new to me, and somewhat helpful, at least to me ( see: http://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2014/05/waiting-on-god-to-move.html). Thinking about the way the Lord allowed the normal course of human development and His previously ordained time-lines and such to influence the way in which He moved on earth, gave me a whole new perspective on the patience of the Lord. And more importantly, it gave me perspective on our own impatience. We so often think that because God can act in an instant, that He should act that way. We think that instantaneous response to prayer is what demonstrates His divinity, and to one extent we are correct, but He also clearly doesn't always respond that way.

When we reflect on the 30 years He waited to begin His ministry on earth, the fact that He became truly human, being born and developing like any of us, it is just amazing! Jesus was coming to earth bringing the single greatest revelation of the Father that the world would ever see this side of eternity, and He patiently waited for 30 more years, at the Father's direction, before revealing Himself. I was trying to think of an analogy, but nothing comes close, no gift we have ever received, no awesome surprise that we waited to receive even comes close to the massive revelation of love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness that Jesus bore. Yet, He lived a lowly life, starting as a baby, developing normally as any child, working as a carpenter, 'living a completely normal human existence for 30 years. He did such a great job of being human, that when He started ministry, his home town couldn't believe in Him, and couldn't figure out where He gained all the wisdom and understanding and authority. Here are some verses from Matthew that show their surprise:

Matthew 13:54-58 NIV
[54] "Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. [55] “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? [56] Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” [57] And they took offense at him.

But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town and in his own home.” [58] And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith."

So why am I fixating on this point? I think it is really important that we gain an understanding of this particular way God chose to wait. This was the greatest message of all time, the most profound revelation, the single most important thing to happen between creation and the end of the world, and God sat on it for 30 years, and then when He started to reveal Himself, did so in a lowly manner. If He had this type of patience with this revelation, He might have some similar patience with other things He is doing in and through our lives. We are such a microwave, want it now culture, that for us waiting is unacceptable. I won't wait more than 30 minutes for a table at a restaurant, I don't like to wait in traffic, I don't like cooking meals that take more than 30 minutes to prepare, I don't like waiting more than a few minutes for someone to reply to my text, email is too slow sometimes so I use texting and even that is too slow for my liking. We want everything now, and yet God sometimes demonstrates great patience, allowing things to take a natural course, and if we don't understand that we may miss what He is doing, and may miss some of the greatest things He will ever do.

One of the things we need to understand about God is His patience. We need to learn to wait on Him, trusting in His timing, trusting in His faithfulness. For example, I was reading about the healing ministry of John G. Lake, and was amazed at the fact that they would sometimes pray daily for people to get healed, and sometimes they were healed on the 30th day. I was recently listening to Bill Johnson, Pastor of Bethel Church in Feeding, CA which is a church that regularly sees God move in healing and miracles, and he was saying that recently they have been receiving reports of people being healed after 2 years of praying for the same sickness. That is an amazing example of faith and persistence.

So often we associate a delay in the Lord's action as either a lack of will, or maybe attention on His part. The enemy tries to convince us that it is because God doesn't love us, or that we don't have enough faith, and that is why He isn't moving upon the situation. The problem with all of this is that our time perspective and understanding of the patience of God is off. Waiting 30 years to move didn't mean Jesus didn't love the world or wasn't paying attention. I imagine his heart was breaking for the pain and suffering he saw all those years while He waited for the Father's release, trusting Him completely. We need to learn to have faith and persistence for the long run, as Paul writes about training and persistence to win the crown (1 Cor 9:24-27) speaking of years of preparation and training. James speaks about the farmer waiting patiently for the land to yield its crop (James 5:7-8). We need to learn to lean into the Lord, and realize that His timing is perfect, and years of waiting doesn't mean He has forgotten or isn't going to move.

Going back to Jesus birth, and the prophecies spoken and signs that accompanied this event, it says in Luke 2:51-52 that Mary, "...his mother treasured all these things in her heart. [52] And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.". As I was reminded of those verse, I realized that this meant Mary was holding onto the promises of God concerning Jesus. For 30+ years she treasured in her heart the promise of God concerning her son Jesus, patiently waiting for the day He would fulfill His destiny, and the promises spoken to her and about Him. That is a very long time to hold onto a promise, waiting expectantly, trusting that all she had heard would come to pass. No where in the recorded revelation of the angel, or the prophecies of Simeon or Anna does God mention 30 years of waiting, yet she waited and trusted.

So my encouragement this morning is to realign my expectation of God, to include long times of waiting, knowing that He is still a actively engaged and planning to move. My encouragement is to dust off the promises that have been made, that haven't been fulfilled yet, and to let the Lord renew them to me. I am encouraged anew to realize that His delay doesn't mean He doesn't love me or plan to fulfill His promise. I am encouraged and renewed in my long prayers for healing for those that need His touch so desperately. I am encouraged that God will move, and I will treasure these promises until He does move!