Can We Wait Ever Too Long?

In our “hurry up, get it done now” lifestyle, one of the most challenging verses I have faced recently is:

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14)

What!  Wait??  

If we pull back for a moment and think about this, we know that waiting for God to work is needed.  We know intellectually that if God is not in it, it certainly fails (Psalm 127:1-2).  Sometimes we run forward to do God’s work and we wonder, why don’t people understand us?  

For example, we might think that everyone needs to know about Freedom in Christ because it radically changed us. So we share with anyone and everyone! But instead, we get silent stares.  We get cold shoulders.  We get no answer, sometimes for years.  I know of someone who prayed for 30 years for her church to be open to Freedom in Christ. She had the wisdom to wait for God to move. And once God did move, the message was welcomed and sought after.  So, we need to listen to God, to hear if He wants us to wait.  

Picture God going into battle ahead of you to destroy the enemy and the enemy strongholds.  Picture yourself following after to assist and co-labor with God in the work.  The book of Joshua is an excellent example of this kind of co-laboring.

But we can also wait too long. In many ways, the work of God is time-based.  What do I mean by this? If God is moving and we are resistant to co-laboring with God or just distracted with other things, the opportunities may well disappear altogether.  God may close the doors.  

I met with a man who was going over rough ground several years ago.  He went to our church and men’s group, and he also worked in a common space in my building during COVID.  I thought of him from time to time and meant to get together with him again, but I didn’t make the extra effort.  We then moved out of the state, and I received a message from him hoping to meet again. I had to tell him I was now gone.  Was it my fault?  Was it his fault?  Certainly, God can raise up someone else to take my place.  But the time window has closed and it never happened.  

My point is this: it is appropriate to wait.  But it is also appropriate to move when God gives the go ahead.  

This is a little complicated because the embedded assumption is that we “hear” God.  There is no doubt that God is a communicator.  But how do we obey if we can’t hear?  How do we do what God asks, if we don’t know what God’s voice sounds like?  

Hearing God is possible. But it does take practice and discernment.  As we know, there are voices other than God’s that seek to send us in the wrong direction.  Simply said, God’s voice has God’s character and attributes behind it.  The message never conflicts with Scripture or is sinful.  The message needs to be tested; for example, by others you trust.

Saints, you can hear from God, and you desperately need to learn the skill in order to both wait and move at the right times. 

If you’re the new year’s resolution type, consider making this your top priority in 2025. Neil Anderson’s book Liberating Prayer is a good place to start the process of learning to listening to God. You can purchase it here.