“Walk before me faithfully and be blameless…” Genesis 17:1
God’s call to Abraham stays with me, as it reminds me that He really loves me and is proud of me. He could have said, “Follow behind- you are new to this, and you might get lost or make mistakes, so until you know better, just be in my shadow…” But no! He said, “Walk in front of me, so I can see you walk, and while you do, I will think about how I made you and how much it took to get you to this place… walk and show others how I made you and that they can have this too. Walk and I won’t let your feet stumble, and even when there are obstacles, I am taller than you and see the road ahead. Listen to my voice, and you will avoid the pitfalls. If you get hurt, or need a break, let me know and I will carry you. You are mine and I will both protect and defend you. But walk in front because I am proud of what I made.”
Sis, today I want to talk to you about how to wait patiently for your heart’s desires while you are walking before God. If you think about the fact that we live publicly in front of Him, and that His desire to see us up front is not to embarrass or cause us anxiety, it makes sense that we consider what are the Biblical best practices associated with waiting, so that we do it in a way that best reflects the character of Christ. This is a topic that is often overlooked. I hear, “Sis, I am doing everything that God wants me to, and still…” I feel that pain, but it might be associated with the way we wait. In January, I listened to a podcast called This is the Voice of the Prophet, by my spiritual mother, Beatrice Vallery Nero. She hit all of the points I wanted to write about so succinctly, I reached out to ask her if I could borrow her references for this blog post. I encourage you to download her weekly podcast through BuzzSprout or Apple Podcasts. This post will draw on the points she made with a few of my thoughts added for effect.
Some of you have been believing God for a long time for big things. You know God, and you know that we have the faith to believe that God has already done it, even if we don’t see it or are living it yet. Hebrews 11:1 (from the Amplified version) encourages us that faith is the assurance (title, deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely, guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen (the conviction of their reality--- faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses). Where there was nothing, suddenly, that thing you believed would come to fruition shows up and is tangible. The idea is that the more you experience this, you will be transformed and remember what God did. You will know that not only does He have everything you need and know what is best, but also that when you don’t see it, you can still believe for it. When we forget how He provided or delivered us, whatever new problem presents itself seems insurmountable and our faith may turn cold.
Here are some things that the podcast reminded me of: first, delay is not denial. You may not have seen it yet, but that doesn’t mean that God said no. Second, you are allowed to ask God if He is saying no. This is not sinful, and it doesn’t show a lack of faith. Sometimes, we don’t ask God because we are afraid He will say no, so we play this game of wishful thinking. Sis- He’s your father who loves you and won’t give you a stone and call it bread. Ask Him, and wear the big girl pants to deal with the fallout if the answer is no. No might save you from a lot of grief. No means better things are on their way. Go before Him, ask and agree for His will to be done no matter what you want the outcome to be personally. We sometimes ask for good things- healing, jobs, partners or for our loved ones to be saved. We don’t always get a definite answer, but God will give you peace to handle the outcome. Go ahead and ask if it’s his will for you to keep hoping and believing for something that He has no intention of giving you- that’s fair. Especially concerning the salvation of our loved ones, Sister Beatrice shared how the Father impressed to her that above all, it is His desire to see these same people come to know Him and live in relationship with him. When our desire aligns with God’s, we are right to have faith and wait for this thing to come to pass.
What do you do when you get a negative answer from God? Sister Bea’s podcast said, “ the right way to deal with it is to say okay… what do you want me to do?” God does not lead us around dangling carrots in front of us, to make us move with Him. You can be disappointed and frustrated, but at the end of the day, ask Him what to do next. Remember! He is taller than you and since you are walking before Him, He can see the road ahead. In order to ask this question, it's essential that you know how to hear from God (a whole other blog, I assure you!).
Surround yourself with people who know how to encourage you and lift you up as a sister in Christ. I don’t have to tell you in this day and age, there are some people who are going to come into your life and gas you up on things that have no substance. This kind of hot air friend isn’t listening to hear what it is you are hoping for, instead, they are saying positive sounding things meant to tickle your ears and make you feel good. When I have sat with people who have experienced great losses, I am always looking for good, solid encouragement from the Bible that points to the hope that we have in Christ. This is hope that is not fizzy. This hope is solid and combined with faith, so it can one day produce something beautiful and real. God wants us to accompany each other while we wait. We can remind those who are waiting of times when God came through for them in big ways. Don’t forget the things He has done when there are other things to wait for.
We can pray for each other as we wait. I can pray for your stuff better than my own, because when it comes to what is close to my heart, my perspective is eclipsed by what I want to see happen. It is so beautiful when I hear someone pray for me, and as they quiet themselves to hear the Holy Spirit, they pray out details about the situation that I never revealed. These are the times when I feel seen by God. I also feel immense gratitude for this type of intimate community building He makes possible among His people.
Don’t you dare let go of your faith! Sister Beatrice said this often in her podcast. She quoted Romans 8:24-25: “For in this hope, we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” There have been times when I hoped that God would restore a relationship that I messed up, and regardless of my heart’s desire, it did not come back to life. At the time, I chose to be inspired by King David, who fasted and prayed for his son to live. David was moved to humility by his son’s fight for life. He finally saw the consequence of his sin, having laid with another man’s life and then sentenced him to death on a battlefield to cover up their sin. I know how he pled with God. I feel like I have had my share of times when I had to go on my face and do the same. But when the child did not recover, David got up from the floor. He washed his face, put on fresh clothes and combed his hair, and then he went to worship God. Afterwards he ate. People worried for him, but there was nothing left to do except to thank God, and keep living. The loss of a child can never be replaced, but Bathsheba conceived again, this time as David’s wife, and their son Solomon brought them great joy and blessed the nation.
There have been other times, when I know I made God proud with the way that I waited. Several years ago, I had an accident while travelling for work purposes, and the insurance company did not want to cover the costs. In fact, they sent me a bill for $16,000. There was no way I could afford to pay it, and I was panicked to learn that this bill had already been sent to a collections agency to come after me. I remember feeling desperate in pursuing God to know what to do next. I was inspired by the Shunnamite woman in 2 Kings, chapter 4. She and her husband took care of the prophet Elisha, and upon leaving her home, he prophesied that she would have a child. She took it seriously and did not want to hope for things that would not come. Well she had the son, but one day, he fell ill and died. This lady put on her shoes, grabbed her donkey and a servant and went to find Elisha. When she got to him and explained the situation, he began to give his servant instructions on what to do, but this lady was so determined she grabbed Elisha’s boot and held on until he heard her heart and went with her. I used to tell God, I am holding on to your shoe and I won’t let go until I hear from you!
Soon after, I went to a prayer meeting with a visiting prophetic guest speaker. As I dressed myself, I told the Lord, “I just want to know what to do about this bill. If you tell me you have taken care of it, I will never think of it again.” The speaker was preaching and suddenly, I looked down and saw his shoes standing in front of mine. “Open your hands,” he said. As I did, he began to gently slap my uplifted palms. Right side, left side, right side, left side. “Money is running through your hands like water,” he said. I held the same question I asked God while I was putting on my makeup on the tip of my tongue. The speaker went on, “I see a bill is waiting for you.” He leaned forward and whispered to me the amount. I nodded that it was true. He said, “The Lord wants you to know He has paid it, go home and never think about it again.” Sis! I have to tell you! I went home and I never thought of it again. Six weeks later, I got a letter from my insurance company explaining that they have paid the bill in full, and they enclosed a refund cheque for incidental testing costs that I had paid out of pocket. That was a real occasion of waiting before God in a way that makes Him proud!
In part 2, we will delve into what our attitude should be as we wait. May God grant you wisdom as you wait before Him for the things you hold dear!