I have learned to wait on the Lord knowing that He will always lead me. It can be hard to wait as I still see in the natural, and I can see all that stands before me. Yet I long to be led by the Holy Spirit on major decisions in my life such that I would remain in the will of God. The wait can be weeks, months and even years – but the wait is always worth it! I have been so blessed in the waiting, as it is there that my faith has grown.
To hear the Lord, you must be willing to wait until He speaks to you. Jesus taught us, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).
Your words may say that you trust Jesus, but waiting on Him proves it. Two words in our faith can never be separated: waiting and trusting.
Waiting is trusting in action. “Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20).
Let waiting be your sacrifice to the Lord. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry” (Psalm 40:1).
A few years ago, I was in a job that did not look like it would last. By every appearance, it seemed it was time to move on. I was commuting from Los Angeles to Boston two to four weeks a month and the travel was wearing me down. There was new leadership and it was clear I was not wanted. But the Lord did not lead me to leave there, and so I remained. Don’t let your circumstances lead you more than the Lord.
We learn to trust God the most where we understand Him the least. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Waiting is the hardest thing to do that requires no effort. “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5).
One late night in Boston I was with some precious friends, fellowshipping and leaning into the things of God. Oh, how much we need our brothers and sisters in Christ! We went into prayer and one dear sister who knew of my job struggles prayed into my life, that the Lord would bring clarity in what I should do with my job.
To be led by God you must wait for God. “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14).
The great work of a saint is learning how to rest in God. “Rest in the Lord…” (Psalm 37:7).
The next morning, I met with my new boss. He walked me through all that I did and who he was going to transfer the duties to. He got to the end and there was nothing left for me. Isn’t God so grand, that He would answer our prayers such that we know exactly what we need to do! Never fear the leading of the Lord but only the impatience of your heart. I started to look for a new job that very day.
God’s timing is perfect, it is our patience that has the problem. “…wait patiently for Him…” (Psalm 37:7).
We think it is what we are waiting for that is the grand thing. But the grandest thing of all is the Lord Jesus who is with us in the waiting. “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:25).
When we wait on the Lord Jesus, we enter into a trusting and intimate relationship with Him. As we trust Him more, He will entrust more to us. He longs to lead us by His Holy Spirit. We must lean into this leading and wait for His directions. Be sure that the waiting is the process by which your faith will grow. The greater the wait you are in, the greater the faith that will follow.
It is in the waiting where the Lord is preparing you for what lies ahead. “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
To rest in the Lord requires submission and not effort. It is always in the efforts of man that we find the obstacles to his faith. “Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me” (Micah 7:7).
My prayer is that you would learn to wait on the Lord. That you would discover the blessings of all that the Lord would give you in your waiting. That your faith would grow, and that your intimacy to Christ would increase, and your heart would be full. Pray believing and dare to wait on the Lord.
Blessings to you,
Paul Balius
All Scripture is quoted from the New King James Version. Please use the version you prefer to review the verses shown here. The best version is the one you read. An even better version is the one you live.
I still sometimes struggle with waiting on the Lord, but as I come to know Him better, it’s becoming a bit easier.
I’m so glad you got out of that job and into a new one where they’re smart enough to realize how fortunate they are to have you.
He is so gracious as He works things into our lives. He knows us each so perfectly and already can see what it will take to change us.
I am so glad to be in my new job. I get to come home each night to Mary now, what a blessing. And on some nights she still has our granddaughters there, oh what a grand blessing they are!
Good stuff!! Love reading your blog!
Thank you Tina! It is such a joy to write, and especially on the things of the Lord!
I have put some of your quotes on Facebook. They are inspirational!
Thank you, it is such a joy to be near God, I want so much for others to be there with me!
What a blessing your blog post was to me! I thank God for you.
Thank you so much, you have been such a great encouragement to me!
I didn’t know how good this teaching was when I decited to read it. This was very eye-opening and encouraging. Thank you Jesus! <3 Thank you, Paul. Now I got some tips on how to wait for the Lord and what that is about since I've been struggling with no direction. Thank you for your encouraging words and great Bible verses. God bless you, brother!
So glad you liked it. Waiting on the Lord is so hard to do, but once we begin doing it our faith grows and our trust in Him increases. This is the key to the blessed life with Christ, is trusting that He will deliver us and provide for us.
Paul, before I read your recent Walk by the Spirit blog, the Lord had been putting on my heart some fellow fail-to-waiters (King Saul, the whole Israelite nation in the Exodus, even Judas). The Spirit was telling me that my problem boiled down to not waiting. I was feeling the consequences of a season of not waiting on God and was crying out to break free. On the other hand I have been teaching on walking by the Spirit so I was drawn to your present Walk by the Spirit blog. The Spirit lept within me as I started into your walking article and saw the connection or even coupling to waiting. Both articles are spot on. Thank you for articulating and sharing them. God seems to speak in three’s and alliteration. Waiting, Walking, and then what?
Roger, it is interesting to me that you bring this subject up of waiting on the Lord. I have been focusing in on that very thing in a chapter for my next book. I think it is absolutely crucial that we learn to wait on the Lord that we would not lose out on what He would do in our lives. This other comment of the patterns of three, I have a dear friend who teaches much on that pattern. It is like a lens, that once we look at Scripture with this lens on, we will find the patterns of threes all over. I wonder if the three patterns in your example would be waiting, walking, and then ascending? Blessings to you. Paul
Paul, thank you for taking the time to reply. Even as I was reading your response, the Lord revealed the third element, Wisdom. For in the waiting, and in the walking, meekness is formed. And according to James 3:13, wisdom flows from meekness. Wisdom cannot exist apart from character. So the Father, in having us wait, and in having us walk, is creating His character in us, in order that His Wisdom might be made available to us. Wow!
Roger, I am always so blessed by the may streams that the Lord uses to pour out His wisdom through His servants in the church! Blessings to you!