Waiting on God ~ Part One
Friday, September 10th 2010 @ 9:38 AM
SBM is pleased to introduce Irene Bennett, Co-Founder and President of SBM's Parents Group Ministry. Irene is weeks away from completing her very first book, Until Your Prodigal Comes Home - Encouragement Along the Way. Each Friday, Irene will share her heart in Friday's Encouragement Corner, posted here online at SBM. Enjoy, be blessed and have a wonderful weekend! Lord bless you ~ SBM
Many businesses in our society pride themselves in giving customers exactly what they want, when they want it: fast service with little or no waiting time, fast food, higher Internet speeds, movies on demand, express lines and so much more. You name it - we want immediate results. No wonder some people get annoyed or even angry when a phone call leaves them on hold for a time or a meal at a restaurant isn't promptly served. I have to admit, I don't get angry, but waiting is something I am not fond of.
Waiting is even more difficult when our request is something which is near and dear to our heart ~ like asking the Lord to save our child or loved one, and then waiting for Him to do so.
As you pray for your prodigal, keep in mind 2 Peter 3:9, "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
Always remember, when you pray for your loved one to come to Christ, you are praying the will of God. As you intercede through prayer, the Lord is surely working on your behalf, doing everything possible - even the impossible - to bring your loved one to Himself.
While God works in the lives and hearts of our prodigals, our wait may be short or it may be long. Either way, we can be blessed while we wait, or we can choose not to be blessed. It all depends on our view of waiting.
Let's talk about what waiting is not.
Waiting is not a waste of time, unless we make it a waste of time. If we dwell in the past while we wait, wondering what we could have done or said differently concerning our prodigal, then we are wasting our time. We are wasting our time because we can't change the past, so we shouldn't dwell there.
If God has shown you something that you did, which you now realize you could have done differently or better, then repent, learn the lesson, thank God for it and move on. The devil is the only one who wants you to obsess over the past. It's his way of sabotaging the peace you have today and causing you to lose the blessings you have in the present.
Let's take a look at what the Word has to say about dwelling in the past.
Philippians 3:13 says "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."
The apostle Paul had a seriously sinful past which included murdering Christians. Yet after Paul was saved, he never dwelled on his earlier sins. Instead, he believed in the truth of Romans 8:1 "There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Don't be bogged down with guilt, shame and condemnation - Rejoice! Because the Lord has forgiven you and He wants to restore and renew you!
Whatever may have happened in the past - sins, mistakes, or wrong choices - it will never hinder, slow down, or stop God from doing the work He is doing in your prodigal - or even you. You belong to the Lord and when you asked Jesus Christ to be your Savior, your slate was wiped clean! So if God doesn't condemn you, then neither should you condemn yourself.
We can also make waiting a waste of time if we worry about our loved one's future with negative "what if" thinking.
I could certainly tell you stories of sleepless nights and wasted days I spent thinking about all the "what if's" that never happened while I waited for a loved one to come to Christ. Things like "What if they don't stop the drinking or drugs? What if they get angry with me and never talk to me again? What if they move in with that man or woman?" If a "what if" does happen, the Lord is not surprised and He is still in total control of the situation.
Don't worry - God will work in the circumstance at the right time to bring His will and your prayers to pass! ~ Irene Bennett
Irene Bennett is available to speak at your church, conference or meeting. You can also host her One Day Conference - "Until Your Prodigal Comes Home." Irene teaches on subjects like Waiting On God, Getting Off the Worry Wagon and The Goodness of God. If you've been praying for a child or loved one to come to Christ, you will find this one day event will refresh, uplift and strengthen you! For further information on bringing Irene Bennett to your church or event, please call SBM Nationwide Toll-Free at 1-800-832-3623.
