Week Two: Josh Howerton – Lakepointe Church in Dallas, Texas

Sometimes, God responds to us in unexpected ways. What happens when we hear answers from God that we don’t want to hear? How do we respond and move forward? This week, we’ll address the question, “What do we do when God says wait?”

• What do we do when God says to wait? 

Lamentations 3:26 (ESV)

When you wait, you’re in really good company.

Israel waited 40 years to get into the Promised Land.

Jesus waited 30 years to start His ministry.

Paul waited 17 years after Jesus appeared to him before he was appointed to ministry.

David waited 15 years between his consecration and his coronation.

Sarah waited 25 years for her son, Isaac, to be born after God promised her a son. 

We think we need to be DISCOVERED. God thinks we need to be DEVELOPED.

What is God doing in the waiting? He is developing us.

A WAITING season is never a WASTED season. Just because God is SILENT does not mean that He is ABSENT.

When we understand that God is at work in the wait, it changes our definition of waiting.

Most people do three things when they are waiting on the Lord.

1. Wonder – “When, Lord, when?” 

2. Worry – “How, Lord, how?”

3. Whine – “Why, Lord, why?”

The question should be, “What, Lord, what?” – “What are you doing in me? What part of my character are you trying to develop? What sin are you moving me to repent of? What wound are you trying to heal?”

Waiting does not equal passivity.

To wait means to serve.

God doesn’t just call us to have faith in His WHAT but faith in his WHEN.

The only thing harder than waiting on God is wishing you had.

Between the PROMISE and the PAYOFF, there’s a PROCESS.