Jesus said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” (Acts 1:4)
The apostle Paul exhorted Christian believers, “Let us not be weary in well doing” (Galatians 6:9 KJV). This was a reminder to his brothers and sisters in the faith to keep on keeping on with their good works for God’s glory, regardless of the response they were receiving.
To be sure, there are any number of discouragements that can cause us to grow weary in well-doing. Yet today I want to encourage you not to grow weary in waiting. In my own experience, I grow far more weary in waiting than I do in well-doing.
If we are not careful, the deafening silence from God in seasons of waiting can be a source of great discouragement. We pray . . . we receive no response from God . . . we sense only silence from heaven. And so we do everything in our power to create our own noise to stir up both the silence and the stillness that rub against the grain of our soul. But God has ordained both seasons of well-doing and of waiting in the lives of His children.
Here’s the thing: when we keep going and sowing, we have a tendency to shift from working in the power of the Spirit to the self. We lose all sight of God’s timing and forget how much we need His help. Jesus knew His disciples would fail in their own strength 2000 years ago, and He knows His disciples will fail in their own strength today. When we realize that we are struggling in a season of waiting, we are to remember these words from the apostle Peter, who also struggled mightily with waiting while he walked with our Lord during His earthly ministry:
Do not forget this one thing dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (2 Peter 3:8)
The Lord may be silent, and that silence may stretch on far longer than we would like, but He is never disinterested in our prayers and our well-doing. May that truth set us free from growing weary in waiting. God will be glorified, others will be blessed, and so will you!
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 