Hosanna Restoration Church

Have you ever given up waiting on the Lord? I wonder why we think our timing is better than His! God warned us that we would need to learn to wait on Him, but sometimes we must get confused and use the wrong definition of wait. We act like waiters at a busy restaurant. We rush to God, give a token prayer, and rush off thinking we have waited! Yes I know that sounds like a silly picture, but it is truer that we care to admit.

Have you ever wondered why the disciples went down to the shore to wait for him and then when darkness fell they took off? Seems like if you were going to head across a lake it would be much smarter to do it in the daylight. After all, at least some of these guys were fisherman. They had to know that storms come up after dark.

Isn’t it usually when things get dark that we are most prone to quit waiting on the Lord too? We can’t see any progress. We can’t see any reason to wait. We feel like God must want us to just do whatever we feel like. And so as darkness falls, off we go with all of our wisdom locked up in a box somewhere!

When the disciples took off, things went pretty smoothly to start with, but then after a few miles, a gale swept down on them and the water got very rough. Often times when we take off without the Lord it will go pretty smoothly for a while. In fact it goes so smoothly that we are convinced we did it just right. But then the wind begins to blow and things begin to unravel. As our wisdom returns, we see the mess we have gotten ourselves into.

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they were afraid at first. No doubt someone said, “I told you we should have waited.” John says that they were terrified. Were they terrified of Jesus because He was walking on the water? Did they think they were in trouble with Him? Had Jesus told them to wait until He was ready to go? What ever the case might be, Jesus called out to them and calmed their fears. Then He came to them and they were glad to have Him in the boat and immediately they were safely at their destination.

Much like the disciples, when we have that moment of revelation, we fear the truth of our own foolishness. We realize we should have waited, and we think Jesus will be mad at us for taking off. He probably should be, and He would be if He were like us. Fortunately, He is not like us. He calls to us and tells us, “I am here, don’t be afraid!” If we are wise, when He comes to us we are glad to have Him get right back in the middle of our lives and happy to have Him take us safely to the destination that He has chosen. Waiting takes practice. Wait upon the Lord.