There is an appointed time for things to happen. God never tarries. He is always right on time.
Is there anything in the world that’s more challenging than having to wait, and wait, and wait?
Habakkuk 2:3 says, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end, it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
That means wait for it.
We see that all the time, wait for it, wait for it. There are so many times I see something on Facebook, and it says, wait for it, wait for it. I keep waiting for it, and I miss it. I don’t know what I’m waiting for.
Whatever you’re waiting for, you won’t forget what it is, because when it appears it’s going to make you super happy. That’s the Word of the Lord.
Waiting is a virtue of saints, to wait upon the Lord. Many times, you’ll hear people say, I need patience in my life, but I need it right now. I just want microwave patience. Bring it to me.
Unfortunately, biblically speaking, the only way you’re going to get patience is you’re going to learn to wait.
I’d like to share with you a testimony about this lady, oh my goodness gracious, she certainly had put her time in waiting. She was a woman of incredible faith. She had this great vision.
It’s the kind of thing you think, I just know that because it’s such a great vision that God’s going to breathe on it. It’s going to be a piece of cake.
Listen, if it’s really a vision from God, it’s going to be challenging. It’s not just going to have his name, but his nature, identified with it also.
What she wanted to do was to serve men and women who had been bound by drugs, alcohol, and wrong relationships. She had this great vision. She really had all of the heart and the desire to be able to see people re-established.
This woman had the opportunity. One good thing happened and another and another. She started this business and did incredible, wonderful things. She got rave reviews and had all kinds of clients. Everything was buzzing and going great.
Have you ever had that kind of situation in your life? Where you’ve waited for something and suddenly all that you hoped for is right there?
God gives you the opportunity to grow in grace, knowledge, and wisdom.
God will work that waiting thing into your character, and into your integrity.
Well, this lady found out that the boss, who makes the decisions and pays the bills, decided he wanted to go in a different direction. What that meant is they told this woman, who had birthed this great plan, that they were not going to do her plan anymore. They told her they had a different plan for her, and she lost her job.
She was greatly disappointed. She thought, this is it, this is where God wants me, this is where the blessing is. It all seemed to fit together.
Often there are things in our lives that look like this is it, this is the deal, this is the relationship, this is the business, this is the education. These are the things that I really want to do.
This sweet lady was on her journey, learning about waiting on the Lord. She tried to find work everywhere. She had all kinds of promises, come work here, come work there. Even with all her background and accomplishments, every door closed.
Have you ever had that happen? Have you ever tried to have gainful employment and it didn’t matter where you turned, there was absolutely nobody that was interested in hiring you?
Those things build character. It’s like when Moses was on the backside of the desert for 40 years. It’s like Joseph in the pit, and then in the palace. He was finding out all this time that God prepares tailor-made crosses for people.
This lady ended up moving from one state to the next. She and her husband started over again. They bought a lovely new home. They both had left their gainful employment where they were and moved to this new state.
They thought everything would be okay. They had promises of all kinds of jobs. It would be no problem whatsoever. It didn’t matter where either one of them turned, no, no, no, you can’t have this, you can’t have that.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you have done everything that you know to do? This woman must have applied to over a hundred jobs. Everybody would say, you sound ideal for this situation. When it came time to be hired, she was never hired.
It ate up all of her confidence. You and I have to understand that if our confidence is in something other than God because God is a jealous God, He will allow us to go through a season of teaching us.
She got to the end of herself, and she stopped trying.
You come to the place where you say, “God, I love you, and I trust you, you know where I am.”
The pandemic hit. She didn’t have gainful employment. She and her husband had to file for bankruptcy. All of these humiliating things happened. It seemed like there was no way to get ahead.
There are things in this life that go wrong. We think, “Lord, all I’ve ever wanted to do is to know you, love you, and serve you. How come I’m going through this?”
Waiting builds integrity. Waiting builds patience.
With patience, you will possess your soul, your intellect, your reason, and your emotions.
Waiting is so powerful.
This woman ended up taking a job delivering food. She felt reduced to nothing.
In the midst of everything going on, she was delivering food and listening to music. A song came on saying your future’s going to be so big, it’s going to be so big.
The Holy Ghost filled that car. She pulled off on the side of the road. She started crying. God proved Himself. She heard the Lord saying to her, “I love you, I love you, I love you.” All her sorrow, fear, and apprehension left.
All it takes is God’s spirit flooding through you.
She came to the end of herself, but she didn’t waste it.
Then it looked like a new opportunity had come. She was so full of hope and faith. She found this beautiful home for a wonderful price with acreage. She planned to start her own business there. To make a long story short, it looked like that was going to take place.
Before the promise comes, you’ve got to wait on the promise.
God is speaking to us. Many times, while you’re in that vulnerable state of waiting, you think that what you’re waiting for has come. God says, “It’s something bigger than that.”
She would go back and listen to that music believing it was going to be big. That vision inside of her kept growing. Her waiting was not being wasted.
While you’re waiting, don’t waste your sorrow. Don’t waste your frustration or your limitation.
She had investors and everything lined up. Everything was going in the right direction. Then she got a call. The people with the money said they changed their minds.
That was crushing. It was another frustration. But you know what? The faith of God, not just the faith in God, but the faith of Christ in you, is the hope of glory. Christ as you is the manifestation of glory.
Let the Earth be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.
When I talk about glory, it’s the manifestation of Jesus Christ in your body. It’s your conduct and your conversation. God is conforming us. The Holy Ghost is conforming us into the image of the dear son of God.
When it looked like all hope was gone, she got a call. It was an invitation. This company told her that she was exactly who they were looking for.
Prior to that, she disciplined herself to write out a complete program. She got all the information. She didn’t waste that time. She was getting all of her knowledge together. When the real thing came along, she was prepared.
They offered her a large six-figure salary in a beautiful place.
The day will come when we do partnerships and things of that nature. Her vision was for an appointed time and so is yours.