Put your faith to work in His presence

There are Christians who have often underestimated the benefits of waiting on the Lord. In most cases these are the ones who do believe that, the Lord will only bless the works of our hands, for as long as we are acting by faith in Him. 

But however faith is always “now” (Hebrews 11:1), even when we have to wait on the Lord. No one can wait in God’s presence without being able to release faith in Him. 

To wait on the Lord requires the faith in Him, which works with corresponding action. And the corresponding action of our faith requires that, we are speaking in accordance with the words of His promises, even as we are waiting in His presence (Hosea 14:2).

We also need to acknowledge that it’s impossible to be acting by faith, without the word of instruction and direction from the Lord. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). 

Anyone who is not prepared to wait in His presence, will not hear His word of instruction and direction, in order to be able to release his faith with corresponding action. To be instructed and directed by the Lord, we must be willing and ready to wait, for as long as it takes in His presence. 

If Abraham waited for twenty five years to receive the promise of the Lord, you can wait also. And Abraham indeed was a friend of God, who walked by faith in His presence (James 2:23-24).

Those years of waiting were well spent by Abraham in developing the friendship and the close walk with the Lord. If you have to wait for longer than anticipated, the Lord may be drawing you closer in your walk with Him. Wait and keep on waiting!

The Bible also informed us about Joseph’s waiting time on the Lord, before the fulfillment of his dream while living in bondage with the Egyptians. It says:

“He (God) sent a man before them— Joseph—who was sold as a slave. They hurt his feet with fetters, He was laid in irons. Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭105:17-19‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It was not an easy thing for Joseph to have waited like this, while being separated and alienated from his own people, who he had been sent ahead to deliver by the Lord. Joseph carried the dream (vision) within himself, into the situation that he had found himself in Egypt. 

He however had to wait, until the word of the Lord had tested his dream. And by going through the test with meekness and total submission to the Lord, he saw his dream coming to pass.

There are many who are always expecting the Lord to do things for them quickly. They don’t want to be tested before they can inherit God’s promise. Such is the attitude of those who can’t wait before the Lord. 

The Lord God is not in a hurry, to give them the instruction and direction that they do need, for their faith to work. He has all of eternity in His hand. So why should He even ever be in a hurry for anything? Wait on Him!

Those Christians who are waiting on the Lord, are indeed saving themselves from a lot of troubles in this world. They are learning how to depend on the Lord alone, which is a good thing. 

This is one important thing that waiting on the Lord does for us. It causes us to realize our dependency on Jesus alone. Our dependence is not on ourselves or the people that we do know. It has to be only and solely on Jesus, for the excellency of His glory and power to come into our lives. 

The Lord will give His grace to keep and sustain, those who are waiting on Him. There  may be persecution as a result of obeying the Lord; but His grace will always be there to sustain you in the midst of it all. Wait on Him!

Those who are watching and waiting before the Lord are never bothered about persecution, because they are aware of the greatest power on this earth that is sustaining them. The Lord will keep them and strengthen them in the midst of it all. 

However the scriptures also teaches us that, there are great profits in waiting on the Lord. It’s only those who are not very conversant with what it takes, to live the lifestyle of faith that can’t really wait on the Lord. The truth is that it takes a lifestyle of faith, to be able to wait on the Lord.

Spiritual renewal comes like the eagle’s 

To soar like an eagle, wait as the eagle waits

The Prophet Isaiah once declared: 

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40:28-31‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

The comparison of our waiting on the Lord by the Prophet Isaiah with that of an eagle, that is mounting up with wings is something which is very interesting. An eagle that has reached the prime of his life is faint and weary. But at that moment he does has a very important decision to make. 

The decision that he makes entails the first option of death, due to weariness or being tired of living. The second option is for the eagle to decide, if he can wait for the renewal of its strength, so as to live longer. 

The decision has to be made in isolation from the rest of the world, because it requires a lot of searching within himself about both options. If he decides to live, he must be prepared to wait longer than the option of dying in the secluded location. 

Whenever an eagle wants to renew his strength, he does an amazing thing by choosing life over death. The option of death is for him to wait for it to come in his hiding place. He vanishes from the rest of the other birds and animals to the top of the mountain to die.

The eagle will also fly to the highest peak of the mountain in order to reposition himself for the renewal of his strength. It’s a very painful process that sometimes takes more than 5 or 6 months, during which time the eagle will remain in the hiding place on the mountain top, until the process of renewal and restoration is completed. 

It’s on the mountain top that the decision is made. If he decides to live, the eagle will then beat off its beak on a rock, until the curly beak that’s preventing him from flying well and hunting for his food is broken off. This is what the eagle does when he’s aging, and it’s becoming harder for him to hunt for the preys or to soar in the air.

The old beak has to be removed in this way, so that the eagle can be able to use the renewed beak, to shed other things away from his body. 

From the moment after the old beak has been removed, the eagle will have to wait until a new beak comes out. He then will use the new beak to remove the old and heavy nails on his feet. The renewal process continues with the removal of the old feathers away from the wings. 

It’s after doing these things that the waiting period really begins for the eagle. And this is the most difficult part of the renewal of strength process for the eagle. He has to wait in the hiding place for the new feathers to grow on the wings, so as to be able to soar higher. The new nails with the new claws on the feet must also reappear, so as to have a stronger grip with the feet on his prey.

And our Christian life is just like that of the eagle also. You may choose to go to heaven and be with the Lord, when you have gotten to that stage in your spiritual life of total and complete satisfaction. Or you may decide to do what the eagle does, for the renewal and restoration of his strength. You do this by using your faith to wait before the Lord.

The bottom line is that there is so much more to do on the earth for the Lord. That’s why many have often decided to do what the eagle does here, by renewing their spiritual strength for the restoration of everything in their lives, that the devil had stolen away from them. This will inevitably enable them to be able to do much more for the Lord on the earth. 

The Apostle Paul mentioned about his own personal experience concerning this to the Philippians, in chapter one verses nineteen to twenty six. He said in verses 21 to 24:

“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:21-24‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Paul decided to remain alive, instead of dying. There was much more work for him to do among the Philippians. He would had decided to go and be with the Lord; but that would had been a loss for the Church at Philippi. So he decided to stay alive for the work in their midst.

He did here what the eagle normally does, in order to be able to soar higher and sharpen his reflexes for hunting the preys, so as to live longer on the earth. 

And this is only spiritually possible for us as Christians by waiting on the Lord. It’s a long process that entails the removal of those things that are spiritually weighty and dead in our lives, so that the newness of life in Christ Jesus may spring up. 

It entails the breaking away from bad habits and dead traditions. Worthless relationships that has no spiritual worth or value in your life has to be removed, just as the eagle uses its beak to remove dead and weighty feathers away from his wings. 

The reward of waiting

Come to the table that’s prepared for you

The primary outcome of waiting on the Lord is that, it gives us the ability to be able to soar higher. As the Prophet Isaiah pointed out above, it normally results into our supernatural transformation. 

Waiting on the Lord is the only way to receive God’s infinite resources, for doing the work of His Kingdom on the earth. When you receive His infinite resources, you will receive His grace and mercy also. His grace and mercy will take you into the place, where you will never lack in any good thing, for the rest of your life on the earth.

His grace and mercy will keep you in the position, where the resources of the world will actually begin to mean nothing to you, because you are depending on God and not the world or its systems.

The Bible said of Abraham as he waited:

“who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭4:18-20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Abraham never considered the deadness of his physical body or the womb of Sarah. In other words everything was dead in the life of Abraham. The only thing that was alive in him was the promise of God. The promise of God gave him the faith and the grace to wait.

So he had to strengthen himself in faith by giving glory to the Lord, for the fulfillment of the promise. The promise came into manifestation as he waited for it in God’s presence. 

King David revealed to us how Abraham must had done this. David mentioned about how the Lord caused him, to inherit the promise of being established as king over the nation of Israel. He said about what the Lord did as he waited for the fulfillment of the promise:

“Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103:5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

As David waited in God’s presence, his mouth was filled with the good things to declare; until his youth was renewed like that of the eagle, that is waiting on the mountain top for the renewed strength and power. 

And there is nothing to doubt that Abraham did the same thing also, as he waited for the Lord’s promise. He had to wait on the Lord for a long time. He was not perfect during that time of waiting, but his faith made him perfect as he waited on the Lord to fulfill the promise.

Grace is what keeps us stronger through the imperfection of our faith, while we are waiting on the Lord. The Covenant by the blood of Jesus Christ is the basis of our perfection. 

As we wait on the Lord, the imperfection of our faith becomes perfection in God’s presence. And whatever we receive from the Lord as a result of this, is always perfect. 

You will need His perfection to be able to prosper with whatever He gives you, as answer to your prayer. Abraham did made some mistakes while waiting on the fulfillment of God’s promise, but God’s perfection strengthened him in his faith; because of the Covenant with the Lord God Almighty. 

Don’t ever allow the enemy to make you consider your imperfection, as you are waiting in God’s presence. The Lord sees you as being perfect, because of your faith in the finished work of Christ Jesus. 

You can use your faith for anything in His presence and receive it, because God’s presence as you are waiting is His glory. And this is where you are watching and waiting – in His presence. You just need to be declaring the good things that His presence is pouring into your mouth. He is the One who is satisfying you with the good things to take and receive from His presence, by saying those things. And as you are declaring those good things out of your mouth, angelic beings will move into action to bring them to you. 

Let His presence renew your strength for you. You are being prepared for greater things in His presence. 

So don’t ever quit waiting. Many people have missed their timing by not waiting to the very end. Your redemption and deliverance is just around the corner. Wait for it!

It can be just one moment away from you. Don’t miss it by untimely leaving the presence of the Lord. Don’t quit. Just keep on declaring those good things. And never give up, just because you are not seeing anything.

The truth is that there are a lot of things happening, which you can’t see with you physical eyes. But as you keep on waiting in His presence, what is going on in the realm of the spirit will be revealed to you. Your imperfection will become His perfection in your life. Wait for it!

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