How Does God Use Delay?

“…therefore, He waits on high to show compassion on you…”

(Isa. 30:18b)

One of the most difficult things for us to learn as followers of Jesus is PATIENCE! We pray for patience; but we want it NOW! Often, whenever we’re in difficult circumstances, it seems that God takes longer than we’d like for Him to change things. Why does God allow that to happen?

There are at least two very good reasons why God allows delay. First, as Isaiah spoke to Israel, He waits in order to bless us and have compassion on us! You may be asking, “If God wants to bless us, why doesn’t He just do it?” Well, there’s more. The meaning of this verse is actually, “…He waits for us to come to Him so He can have compassion on us and bless us.” The key here is, He wants to bestow compassionate blessings upon us, but He waits for us…TO COME TO HIM! Why don’t people come to God quickly? Why make Him wait?

We make God wait because we get upset with Him when things go wrong in our lives. We think He’s asleep on the job; He hasn’t noticed. We then distance ourselves from Him. We don’t talk to Him, in the same way we’d act toward a relative we were angry with. God waits. He waits for us to come to Him. We are to come to him, not to complain, but to express our love and trust in His faithfulness! He waits to hear something like, “Lord, I don’t understand what’s happening to me. But, I know you love me and have a great plan for me and you would never abandon me or forsake me. I’m trusting that you know what I need and you are just working your plan in my life.” When this happens, God moves.

The second way God uses delay is because He wants to deal with the enemy, or whoever is coming against us. Psalm 94:13 says, God “will give us relief during troubled times until a pit is dug for the wicked.” So, you see, God waits in order to do more FOR us and in order to deal judgment upon the wicked. Who digs the pit for the wicked? THEY DO! They think they’re oppressing us and taking advantage of us. Yet, God is going to let them fall into the pit they are digging for others. HOW GREAT IS THAT?

So, the next time you’re in difficult circumstances and waiting for God to move, GO TO HIM QUICKLY. Pray to Him faithfully. First, pray that the wicked will repent and see delay as God’s act of mercy upon them. If they don’t heed and take advantage of that opportunity, know that they are soon to experience an ‘earth moving experience.”

May the Lord bless you as you wait for Him. Pastor Damian (Isa. 40:31)