THE WISDOM IN WAITING ON GOD.

The world is accustomed to haste. Everybody prefers to travel on the fast lane. Fast cars. Fast telephony….even fast foods! With the world wired together by awesome communication technology into one small global village, many business and lifestyle decisions can be made in no time by clicking the mouse.

Moreover, technology has made transportation easier and faster than it was in the days of our covenant father Abraham. In addition, generally, science has made life easier and shorter such that the modern man and woman recoil at the patience of job. The world is filled with the impatience plague from coast to coast.

Sadly, many Christians have contracted the syndrome. They have been stung by the haste bug. With their character shorn of patience, their faith now wavers, having lost its principal anchor: and their loyalty to Christ Jesus and her Church is now determined by the times and seasons. They make decisions in a hurry and say their prayers on the run.
Yet, the intricacy and vagueness of the human life demand that we live with caution, look before we leap and learn to hold on for God. We would save ourselves from the frustrations of futile efforts, the pains of unmet desires and the sorrows of unfulfilled ambitions if we direct our requests to God in prayer and patiently wait for Him to answer us. We would avoid the common catastrophic results of hasty decisions and presumptuous conduct if we wait to hear from God through prayer and the reading of His word.

We must slow down in life and align our pace with God’s if we will receive His help in our hours of trails, temptations and needs. “Because of his strength: said the psalmist, “will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence” (Ps 59:9). We must shun the hurrying world, share our burdens with God in prayer and wait (Psalm 5:3).

Waiting and Working

Waiting on the Lord, however, should not be assumed to mean stoppage of all efforts towards the realization of one’s set goals. Being patient for God to intervene in our affairs doesn’t turn us into fatalistic believers, doing nothing and hoping for anything. Waiting for God is turning to Him in prayers, trusting in His word for the things we desire, doing our best as may be required, and looking up to Him.
Whatever is its purpose, childbearing, marriage partner, marital bliss, good job, healing, personal spiritual growth, ministerial progress – waiting is an activity that involves the pursuit of God for the realization of desires. Whosoever, waits on God earnestly seeks his face and rests upon his promises, until He grants his/her requests.

Now, it isn’t all who wait on the Lord that realize the purpose of their waiting. Yes, it is possible to wait in vain! For waiting to be fruitful, therefore, it must be accompanied by certain elements outlined below:

Holiness and Blamelessness

Temptations to sin are rife during the waiting period. In addition, when the waiting drags too long than we have envisaged, the feelings of desperation might set in. Therefore, we should fight the urge to speed up and conclude the waiting by ungodly means. While we wait upon the Lord we should strictly abide by His commandment and walk in His ways. The scripture admonishes us to “wait on the Lord, and keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land…”Psalm 37:34. We should not attempt anything to “help God meet our desires quickly.

Patience

Our waiting should be firmly rooted in patience, otherwise, we will soon quit. There are Christians who pray and wait for a moment for God to act. If, however, they sense any delay, they begin to fret and work out an alternative.

King Saul belongs to this group of anxious waiters. The philistines had moved their troops to Micmash, and army of “thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and a people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude” (1st Samuel 13:8). Ready for war against Israel. Visibly, Saul’s army and weapon were no match for the enemy’s and his soldiers began trembling, ducking and taking cover (verse 6). However, the king knew God could win the war for Israel if Samuel, the Prophet, could come in time to pray and beseech the Lord the Lord with sacrifice; and the prophet had given his word that he would visit the war front.
Now after tarrying for seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered for him: (1st Sam. 13:8), Saul quit waiting and hasten to perform the sacrifice. “And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came…” (Verse 10). What followed was one of the most tragic verdicts in the scripture: “and Samuel said, what has thou not kept the commandment of the Lord they God, which He commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established the kingdom upon Israel forever, but now, they kingdom shall not continue…” 1Sameul 13:11, 13, 14).

Courage and Hope

Our waiting shouldn’t be characterised with moodiness and self-pity. We should not wear the look of a bereaved soul: or conduct ourselves like some hopeless, defeated and dejected saints. Ours is not a waiting game of uncertain outcomes. We know that, surely, our patient tarrying will result in the realization of the objects of our unpleasant situations for good. “The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord” Lamentation 3:25 – 26). Therefore, we should look forward to His intervention with solid hope and saintly cheer.


Those who wait on God should rest in the Lord though daylight turns to darkness and all hope of His intervention is seemingly lost. God is never pleased with backsliders and fickle-minded Christians (Heb. 10:38).

No matter the challenges before you now, God is able to provide you with the needed solutions and give you victory if you will wait on Him in prayer, with faith, patience, courage and hope, in holiness and service to Him. Cast away your worries and fears and don’t resort to any ungodly means to solve your problems. “Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the LORD: (Psalms 27:14).

HOWEVER, WHY IS IT HURTFUL BREAKING A RELATIONSHIP?

Managing BREAKUPS.

Thinking or pondering how to handle breakups? I will start by quoting what a true victim of breakup (Rachel) said,

“We have been dating for close to two years and had been friends for more than four years. When he wanted to end the relationship, he couldn’t even face me. He just stopped talking to me and refused picking my calls. I felt helpless. The disappointment was overwhelming. Very traumatic. I kept asking myself, “What did I do wrong?”

A breakup can crush your joyful disposition and replace it with tearful despair. Consider Okechukwu and Chinaza, who dated for six months. Over this period their emotional bond grew. Throughout the day, Okechukwu sent Chinaza sms with expression of endearment. From time to time, he gave her gifts to show that he was thinking of her. “Oke put forth an effort to listen to me and understand me,” Chinaza says. “He made me feel special.”

Before long, Oke and Chinaza were talking about marriage and where they would live as husband and wife. Okey even inquired about Chinaza’s ring size. Then, quite abruptly, he called off the relationship! Chinaza was devastated. She went through the motions of daily life, but she felt numb with shock. She said she became mentally and physically exhausted.”


If you have been in a situation similar to Chinaza, you might well wonder, ‘will I ever be able to move on?’ (Psalm 38:6) your distress is understandable. Sudden breakups in relationships may be one of the most traumatic experiences you ever had to endure. In fact, some have said that it is like a tinydeath. You may even find yourself going through these and perhaps other typical stages of grief. You denial the whole show and think he/she will change his or her mind in a day or two. You may even get annoyed. In addition, you may think you are unlovable and thinks that’s the end of your life. Then as time goes on you will have to accept the show and move on.

The good news is that you can reach the acceptance stage. How much time it will take to get there depends on a number of reasons, including how long your relationship lasted and how far it progressed. In the meantime, how can you cope with the heartbreak?

MOVE FORWARD!

You may have heard the saying, “Time heals all wounds”. When you first breakup, those words might ring hollow. That is because time is only a part of the solution. As an illustration, a cut on your skin will heal in time, but hurts now. You need to stop the bleeding and soothe the pain. You also need to keep it from becoming infected. The same is true with an emotional wound. Now, it hurts. But there are steps you can take to lessen the pain and keep from becoming infected with bitterness. Time will do its part, but how can you do yours? I have listed the following steps in getting over breakups, though the best option is to prevent it from happening.

ALLOW YOURSELF TO GRIEVE

There is nothing wrong with having a good cry. After all, the bible says that there is “a time to weep and even a time to wail”. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4). Shedding tears doesn’t mean you are weak. In the midst of emotional anguish, even David – a courageous warrior, once admitted: “Every night my bed damp from my weeping; my pillow is soaked with tears.”-Psalm 6:6.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH

Physical exercise and proper nutrition will help replenish the energy lost from emotional toll of a breakup. “Bodily training is beneficial,” 1Timothy 4:8.

KEEP BUSY

Don’t stop doing the things that interest you. Now, more than ever, don’t isolate yourself. Prov. 18:1. Associating with those who care about you will give you something positive on which to focus.

PRAY TO GOD ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS AND WAITING FOR HIS PERFECT WILL TO BE DONE.

This might be a challenge. After a breakup, some even feel betrayed by God. They reason, ‘I prayed and prayed that he or she will change her mind or that I would find some one, and now look at what happened! It will be wrong to see God as merely a celestial matchmaker. That’s not God. What I know about Him is that HE CARES FOR YOU! So pour out your feelings to Him in prayer. The Word of God states; “Let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard your heart and mental powers through daily meditations of God’s word. Prayer is an essential ingredient of our waiting; without it our tarrying is in vain. Those who wait on the Lord pray to the Lord. But the waiting prayer is not a one-shot call to God. Rather, it is a sustained supplication to the creator, “Till He fill they mouth with laughing, and they lips with rejoicing” (Job 8:21). The Word of God is spirit and life. His word is the most vital, if you must overcome the bitterness of breakups. God is working for your good, may be this person is not good enough for you.

LOOKING AHEAD.

After you have had time to heal, you might do well to take a close look at just what happened in your past relationship. When you are ready to do that, you may find that writing out your responses to the following questions will help you:

1. What were the reasons given for the breakup?
2. What other reasons, do you think, might have been involved?
3. In hindsight, is there anything you could have done that would have changed

situation? If so, What?
4. Has this experience revealed anyways in which you would like to grow spiritually

or emotionally?
5. What, if anything, would you do differently in your next relationship?

Yes, the relationship you were involved in didn’t become what you had hoped. Nevertheless, remember this: in the middle of a storm, it’s easy to focus on the dark sky and the pouring rain. Eventually, though, the rain stops and the sky clears. From researches, it is established that in time, you will be able to move on. Be assured that this is true.

Move Ahead!