I woke up one Sunday morning planning to go to church, just like I do on most Sundays. And just like most other Sunday mornings, I struggled to get myself out of my bed to go to church. I mean its the weekend and you only get 2 days out of every week to attempt to sleep in, but then in my mind I remember the great sermon from last week that lifted my spirits and set my heart right or I get a text from my friends who’ve I asked to hold me accountable to make sure I go to church and thank God for all He has done for me.
Now you ask, if I have to go through all of this just to get myself to go to church, why do I even go? Well wait, no said once you become a Christian and start having a relationship with God that life was going to get easier. Actually, when you are trying to live your life right is when the enemy decides to get turnt up and the seeds of doubt start to seep in your mind.
“Do you really need to go to church? Its your weekend, you can go next Sunday. You have so much to do. Did God even answer your last prayer?
Fellowship is Needed
Well the good news is in spite of how I felt, I knew I needed to go fellowship with other believers to help encourage me and keep me focused and obedient to God and to thank Him for all my blessings. So I got dressed, checked social media, chatted on the phone with my sister and her kids and then finally made it to the 9AM early service late, but still in time to hear the choir send praises up and hype my spirit up!
Sometimes we just need to be in the presence of God to know everything is going to be alright. We need to be around other believers to remind ourselves that we are not in this race alone and that we all struggle sometimes. Once I see the smiles and tears on the other worshippers faces, I know I made the right decision to come worship in the house of God.
Ready to be Amazed
Now that our spirits have been lifted, our pastor steps to the podium to deliver the Word. The first thing he said was this specific sermon was put on his heart and the word was important for someone in the audience to hear. Now say what you will, like “Oh that’s so general or someone doesn’t mean you,” but I know that means I better get ready to be amazed by how good my God knows me.
The preacher open his bible to Isaiah 64:4 and proceeded to interpret the bible verse so crystal clear that it felt like he wrote his sermon just for me, and of course everyone else in the sanctuary as well. He said:
God will go into work-mode only when we wait on Him. He reminded us that you can’t work hard or do good acts to get your way with God. The only way is by trusting that God will provide you the desires of your heart in His perfect timing.Waiting sounds hard
Well it is! We are built to worry and think we need to somehow step in and help God help us. We want that job or we think we can read a book or watch a You Tube video to fix anything.
Now think about it, God is probably sitting up in Heaven with the angels looking down at us and saying to them, “Ok I’ll let them try to work their problems out a little bit longer, until they get tired and concede that they need My help and then I’ll step in.” But even then when He steps in on our behalf, it does not mean we will get what we want when we ask. He is just teaching us to trust him more and more.
God knows every desire in our hearts:
- He knows you deserve to wake up every morning and get out of bed loving what you do for a living
- He knows you are struggling to understand why you are still alone when you are ready to be loved, yet it seems all your friends have already jumped the broom
- He knows you’re mentally and physically drained due to not being able to have a child yet or other health issues have sidetracked you
- He know you have greatness inside you ready to burst on the scene, but you’re unsure where to begin or how to harness the God-given powers deep inside you
God know all these things about each of us, I mean He made us. And just like others in the Bible before us and even now God has proven time and time again that His timing is perfect. There have been many times I tried to do it my way or attempted something new thinking if they can do why can’t I? God knows what we want, but ultimately He alone knows what and when we will be rewarded for waiting on Him.
Just Wait on Him
Just remember, growing up your parents told you not to touch the stove or wait until your food was cool. They didn’t tell you that just because they could or even to withhold what you wanted. They told you NO or to WAIT because they loved you. They wanted what was best for you and had the insight to know that if you touched the stove or ate the hot food it would hurt you. Aren’t you glad you had them looking out for you when you were young to lead and guide you.
Well in that same way, God is looking out for us now just as our parents did back then. He has the insight to know that no matter how smart we are, how mature we act or and how ready we think we are for something that sometimes we still need to WAIT. Most of the time we don’t need what we think is crucial to our lives either. We must have the faith to wait on the Lord and He will indeed provide for you in His perfect will and way.