We live in a society where most people do not like, even want to or expect to wait. Today we have fast internet and fast food but when the fast is taken away it doesn’t take long for people to get annoyed. Our home internet speed is very fast but every so often it bogs down and waiting the additional seconds is a little annoying or you are told at a fast-food restaurant your order is going to take an additional five minutes. I admit, I have changed my order to something else instead of waiting. The bottom line is we do not like to wait, even for a few seconds or minutes. I think it is fair to say we are an impatient people, especially when we are so used to speedy results at our fingertips and having to wait just does not feel right. The meaning of impatient “is not patient: restless or short of temper especially under irritation, delay, or opposition.” Another definition is “not accepting delay, opposition, pain, etc., with calm or patience.”
This impatience and not wanting to wait carries over into how we believe God should respond to our requests. For the most part we want God to answer us according to our time frame, not His. But scripture makes it very clear, thankfully, that God does not operate as humans do. Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 46:8 “Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. 9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ 11What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.” Hosea 14:9 “Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” Psalm 33:10 “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” After his sanity was restored, king Nebuchadnezzar said, Daniel 4:34 “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” When Job’s life was also restored to him, Job 42:1 “Job replied to the Lord: 2 “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Jeremiah said Jeremiah 10:23 “Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.”
As we see throughout scripture, God’s purposes and plan for good or bad can happen quickly or His plans can take a long time to unfold. When something happens or doesn’t happen, the timing is up to God, not us. Sometimes the prophets saw what they prophesied take place, like the Babylonian attack, but many of the prophets did not see in their lifetimes what they prophesied, like Isaiah when he spoke these words. Isaiah 7:14 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 9:6 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Throughout scripture there were long periods of time that would go by before God would act, such as when God freed His people from captivity in Egypt. He prepared a plan to free his people, but even after Joseph, it took a long time. Eventually Exodus 3:7 “The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
God then frees His people, but the whining and complaining does not stop, even though God promised them a land of milk and honey and the defeat of their enemies. Even though God told them exactly what would happen, they did not believe God’s plan would take place, even though they cried out to Him. (reread Isaiah 46:8) Psalm 95:7 “Today, if only you would hear his voice, 8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did. 10 For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ 11 So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” After the spies returned from the land God had promised them, ten of the spies convinced the people God’s plan would not work. Numbers 14:1 “That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 2 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. 21 Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, 22 not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— 23 not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. 24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” What is ironic is God’s plan in this case was for them to take the land very quickly, but their rebellion caused a forty-year journey in the desert and the death of many.
Instead of obeying God, they decided to follow their own plan which led to disaster. Not only then but right up until they were destroyed by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Deuteronomy 1:41 “Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’” 43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 You came back and wept before the Lord, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you. 46 And so you stayed in Kadesh many days—all the time you spent there.” The story of rebellion is summed up in Psalm 106:6 “We have sinned, even as our ancestors did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. 7 When our ancestors were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. 8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known. 9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. 11 The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. 12 Then they believed his promises and sang his praise. 13 But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold. 14 In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wilderness they put God to the test. 15 So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them. Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. 25 They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the Lord. 26 So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the wilderness, 27 make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands.”
God’s ways and plans are laid out in scripture, yet God’s people continue to rebel and reject those plans but at the same time want God to hurry up and act, bless and answer prayers, but at the same time Isaiah 5:12 “they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. 13 Therefore my people will go into exile for lack of understanding; they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his hands. 18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, 19 to those who say, “Let God hurry; let him hasten his work so we may see it. The plan of the Holy One of Israel— let it approach, let it come into view, so we may know it.” Instead of believing God’s word, they have to see it. When they do not see it, they do not believe. I have had people ask, have you seen what you are reading. When I say no, they seem to be relieved but at the same time they do not believe the word of God which is rebellion. The power and authority has not retuned but it will because God has promised it would; so we wait and believe. When God does not answer quick enough or at all, people get frustrated with God for not working in their own timeframe and at the same time refuse to submit to the way and plan of God. Instead of trusting God, they question God and try to make their own plans come to fruition. By not believing God’s word, His word is changed to something more palatable and much less powerful of which is accepted readily by those who refuse to believe. God told Jeremiah, Jeremiah 9:4 “Beware of your friends; do not trust anyone in your clan. For every one of them is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer. 5 Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie; they weary themselves with sinning. 6 You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.” 2 Peter 3:3 “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” God said, Isaiah 57:11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?”
God has been silent for a very long time and you would think the church would take notice and plead with God to turn His face back to the church so that power and authority would return and enable the church to do as Jesus did, but the church refuses to repent and turn back to His word. Everything Daniel said about the church has happened. Daniel 7:21 “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 9:27 “And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.” Paul said 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” The church has been under assault for a very long time because the church did not listen to Jesus warning us not to be deceived. Paul talked about falling for a different Jesus and other gospels and said, Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.” The church did not listen. Jesus talked about these days and said Matthew 24:15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.” False messiahs and false prophets are everywhere in the church. The attack by this enemy has decimated the church and as the years go by, the church remains desolate and powerless yet refuses to repent and turn from its wicked ways and return to the word of God. The Gospels and Acts show us what the church was supposed to do, but the church refused to follow the plan of God, but still had and have the audacity to say hurry up and prove yourself to us.
Like the journey to Egypt, the return of Jesus was not supposed to be this long, but rebellion has caused generations to go by and millions have died without ever knowing the truth just as Daniel prophesied and Jesus warned us. Peter said, 2 Peter 3:8 “But 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. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” The plan was for the church to be filled with the same power and authority that Jesus had and do as He did just as we saw right after Pentecost and as we saw with the early church that plan would have sped the coming of Jesus to take His bride into eternity, but the bride is unprepared and rebellious. The church rebelled even when Paul was alive and has rebelled ever since. Jeremiah 3:20 “But like a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you, Israel, have been unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord.” The only hope for the church is to return to God’s word. Jeremiah 3:12 “Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will frown on you no longer, for I am faithful,’ declares the Lord, I will not be angry forever. 3 Only acknowledge your guilt— you have rebelled against the Lord your God, you have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every spreading tree, and have not obeyed me,’” declares the Lord. 14 “Return, faithless people,” declares the Lord, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion. 15 Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.”
Today people pray and most prayers go unanswered. Some give up and turn away from God, while others just go through the motions and keep going to church thinking that is good enough. For some, the results of the prayer are changed. If a person has gone to the doctor and gets a good prognosis, then they praise God and thank Him for the doctors. If the sickness is not cured and a person suffers, many get disheartened and some think that God is uncaring and not worthy to be followed and this is problematic as it is interesting in church when someone gets a good result but in the very same service someone is dying of a terrible disease. If the person dies, God is praised that they are now healed and on their way to heaven. Funerals seem to have a way of telling God that this person will spend eternity with you even if that will not be the case. Sickness and disease and life in general are areas where many tell God to hurry up. Prayers are raised daily, yet there is no response and most do not remain faithful if they were truly honest. Job who was righteous in God’s eyes showed us how to remain faithful. Job 23:8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.” Job remained faithful and did not curse God, even though satan did everything he could to get him to curse God and die. When disaster after disaster hit Job, he said Job 1:21 “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Even when his wife said Job 2:9 “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
Because the church rebelled against God’s word, from the time of Paul, the church has been in desolation / captivity because God has turned His face which means the kingdom of God is not coming near. When the kingdom came near, it looked like this. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” And this Acts 8:6 “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.” That is not happening, so the church must return to God’s word. Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Instead of acknowledging rebellion and repenting, the church continues to tell God to hurry up and prove Yourself to us.
Waiting on God’s plan to unfold is not always easy but it is always right because God’s ways are right. You just have to be very careful to make sure you are waiting on God’s word to unfold and not the words of man (false teachers). This time of desolation and destruction should have the church questioning why it looks nothing like the Gospels and Acts, why the words of false teachers have replaced the word of God and why doctrines of demons are called sound doctrines. Why is there little to no healing or demons cast out or people being truly saved. Because of this onslaught by the enemy that the church is in, you have to seriously question your salvation. Don’t be afraid to find out what you have been saved into; you may be shocked to find that you are following a different Jesus and other gospels. 2 Corinthians 11:3 “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” There is a very high probability that is the case if you look hard enough through the eyes of scripture and not through the lens of the doctrines and theology of the church you attend.
We are told that this desolation would end and as Jesus said would be cut short. This destruction of the church has been going on for a very long time and is only getting worse. But for those who are waiting, do not give up and hold fast to the word of God. Deuteronomy 13:4 “It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.” Isaiah 62:6 “I have posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” The good news is that there is hope. Isaiah 30:8 “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Lamentations 3:24 “I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Isaiah 8:17 “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.” Micah 7:7 “As for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”
Don’t tell God to hurry up but instead immerse yourself in His word and turn from your wicked ways which are the ways and plans of man who say they are God’s plan but are completely powerless. satan is arrogant and will always reveal his presence. Ask God to open your eyes to the truth and power of His word. Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; 2 look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was only one man, and I blessed him and made him many. 3 The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, (Ezekiel 36:33 “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. 35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.”) her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. 4 “Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: Instruction will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. 5 My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations. 7 “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken my instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment; the worm will devour them like wool. But my righteousness will last forever, my salvation through all generations.” Isaiah 50:7 “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame. 8 He who vindicates me is near. Who then will bring charges against me? Let us face each other! Who is my accuser? Let him confront me! 9 It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me. Who will condemn me? They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.” Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
