Why is God Making Me Wait? - Missing Peace Part 3

one of the worst feelings in life is to wait right how many know what i'm talking about does anybody ever say like i love to wait nobody likes to wait one of the worst feelings in life is to wait especially when it comes to waiting on god you know what i'm talking about some of you right now you may feel like you're waiting on god you've prayed for something and you're you're wondering god what's taking so long god are you even listening have you forgotten me do do you not even care you might be praying for who knows what maybe you're praying that god would heal you from migraines perhaps you're asking god to bring a loved one to christ you might be praying that god would give you a job with real benefits to help you provide for your family you might ask god to heal you from depression or to save your hurting marriage or for god to bring you a spouse and yet the more you pray the less you see and you wonder where are you god i've been praying for a spouse for years i have one friend she's been praying for a spouse she had a list of 43 specific requests for god that's specific god bring me a man with these 43 qualities after a few years it's down to two i want him to be a male and i want to be employed god just bring me a man who's got a job some of you may feel like this you've been praying and you've been begging and you've been waiting and you've been wondering and you're you're believing that god can but he hasn't and you've waited so long that you're starting to wonder if god hears your prayers if he cares or if he's even there at all what do you do when you've been waiting the title of today's message is why is god making me wait and i want to show you from scripture what god is actually doing while we're waiting if you've ever felt like god is taking a long time god i don't know where you are i don't know why you don't do this this is exactly what people felt like in the bible when they were waiting on god to send a savior if you don't know the story i want to walk you through it today god promised to send a messiah god was sin the savior of the world god promised it would happen and then nothing for decades after decades and centuries after centuries in fact i want to show you just how long god's people waited on god's promise we have to go all the way back to the beginning in the book of genesis in the garden of eden if you know the story god created man and said it's good but it's not good that you're alone you keep getting in trouble you need help he created the eve adam saw eve he said whoa man god said now you're good together be fruitful multiply be blessed enjoy the garden just don't eat from the fruit of that one tree i'm not trying to forbid you from fun i'm trying to free you for life and blessing and eve gave in and adam gave in and they sinned and they were ashamed and god brought a covering to me and then there's this one little weird verse that you may have never noticed before in genesis chapter 3 an odd quirky little verse that many theologians and scholars say is the first prophecy that god would send a savior a messiah would come there's a verse that says the seed of a woman would crush the serpent's head the seed one day through the lineage of eve would be born one who would come who would crush the serpent the head of our spiritual enemy and there would be victory and death would be conquered and hell would be conquered and sin would be conquered and we would have freedom one day is prophesied that god would send a savior through the seed of a woman who would crush the serpent's head go all the way back to the third chapter of the bible and god promises to send the savior and then centuries passed we could pick it up anywhere in the old testament i'm going to pick it up in the book of isaiah 700 years get this 700 years before the birth of christ isaiah prophesies in chapter 7 verse 14 the very same verse we just read in matthew that was fulfilled in matthew therefore the lord himself will give you a sign the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and we will call him emmanuel 700 years miraculously before the event isaiah prophesied and yet we had to wait wait wait what is god doing when you're waiting what's god doing when you're praying for healing or a blessing or for reconciliation or for provision is god like jacking with you because he can i mean like he could do it but he doesn't is he cruel is he is he playful is he teasing you is god just waiting to show off what in the world is god doing when he could do something but he's not doing it and you're waiting there's a fair question do you ever ask them it's safe to ask those real questions and take them before a real god who has real answers what is god doing while we're waiting well to try to answer that very important question what i want to do is i want to show you a period of history that's not in the bible there's a period of history that's not recorded in the bible it's called the inner testamental period period and let me explain to you what it is this is the period of 400 years between the time when the old testament ended in malachi when i was a new christian i called him malachi okay when when the old testament ended in malachi and it's the 400 years before the new testament started in the book of matthews the inner testamental period it's the 400 years between the old testament and the new testament during this time during this 400 years there was no word from the lord god didn't speak at all which made things way more difficult because before when they were waiting on a savior at least god was speaking but now they continue to wait and they heard nothing at all i'm guessing that someone here probably feels like that you're probably praying on something having faith for something believing for something and yet you've got no word from god you've got no sign that he heard you no sign that he's active no sign that he cares all you want is some answer any answer give me a sign god give me a feeling give me anything and yet for some of you there's nothing at all what is god doing while we're waiting why does god feel so silent i want to remind you that just because god feels silent doesn't mean he's absent what is god doing while you're waiting i want to show you today through god's word that while you're waiting god is working while you're waiting while you're wondering behind the scenes the goodness of god the power of god the provision of god the grace of god he's always working he's always working he's working in all things to bring about good he loves you he's a good father he has good plans for you he wants to bless you he wants to prosper you just because you don't see it happening doesn't mean he's not doing anything what is god doing while you're waiting god is always working even while we're waiting in fact i want to show you a verse in the new testament that gives us context both toward god's timing and toward the event we celebrate this week the birth of christ it's found in galatians chapter 4 verses 4 and 5 and the apostle paul says this he says but when the set time somebody say set time type that in the chat the set time but when the set time had fully come what did god do in that perfect moment god sent his son born of a woman remember genesis 3 the seed of a woman born of a woman that's interesting why does it say that but born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship at the perfect time in the perfect moment when the time had fully come god sent his son jesus to purchase us out of our sinful lifestyle to redeem us with forgiveness of grace that we are no longer children of sin but instead we are children of the most high god our god did that in the perfect time i love the phrase in the greek uh the two words translated the time at fully comments the word pleroma chrono you'll think of chronology it's like a clock that means time pluroma it means complete or it means the full measure together it means the perfect time let me tell you how this phrase is translated by different bible translations one translator says but when the time was right god sent his son another version says but when the fullness of time had come god sent his son literally this phrase means but when the time was fully pregnant and as someone who watched his wife give birth six times i know what that means in other words when it's not time you can't force it and when it is time you can't stop it somebody say amen right if it's not god's time you can't make it happen but when the time is fully right there's no power on earth that can stop the will of god from coming forth but when the time was right god sent his son born of a woman remember genesis we talked about the seed of a woman from the seat of a woman would come the savior who would crush the serpent why does it say that this is bizarre if you look everywhere else in scripture when you look at the biology of a seed it always talks about the seed of a man this is the only time you're going to see the seed of a woman why is that because jesus was born of a virgin he didn't he wasn't born from the seed of a sinful earthly man instead how was he conceived by the holy spirit so his father was of divine nature born of a virgin therefore he didn't inherit the sin nature that we inherited born of the seed of a woman conceived by the holy spirit he was perfect in every way that's why he could be the sacrifice the innocent one the lamb of god slain for the sins of our world forgiven us that's how good our god is at the perfect time you see how scripture ties together jesus came born of a woman centuries past people were waiting on the savior when did god fulfill his promise and send the messiah the answer is when the time was just right at the perfect moment god sent his son looking back we can see why god waited sometimes in hindsight you see more of the why behind the weight i'm going to talk to somebody here because right now you don't see it but years from now you may look back and say oh wow well i'm glad he didn't or i'm glad he did sometimes in hindsight you can see the why behind the weight when we look back we can see exactly why god waited for the perfect time his ways are always good just because god feels silent doesn't mean he's absolute whenever you're waiting remember our god is working back to the inner testamental period that 400 years how many of you love history raise your hand raise your hand i think some of you are lying man i didn't love history at all i hated it when i was growing up i i'm going to give you a little history and if you'll just hang with me we're actually going somewhere what i want to do is show you five of the most important things that god was doing in those 400 years why everybody else was waiting five important things the first thing who's ever heard of alexander the great anybody heard of alexander the great in 12 years he conquered the entire world now let me just give you a little secret when you conquer the entire world they put great by your name i'm just telling you they call a lot of people the goat nowadays all they've done is dunked a basketball he conquered the world they call him the great why is this significant because this was the first time in history that there was a common language in those days almost everyone spoke a little greek because alexander the great conquered the world the second thing during this time the old testament was translated into guess what into greek the language that everyone spoke previously it was in hebrew until about the year 280 or so bc the old testament and all of his prophecies about a messiah were translated into greek the third thing you may have heard of the socratic method this was a new way of learning that emerged and for the first time instead of teaching with one-way communication people were encouraged to ask questions and they learned by asking instead of just by hearing number four in 63 bc the romans conquered the greeks this was a very unusual and unprecedented season of peace and so while the romans weren't having to fight wars instead they developed roads and highways and transportation system making transportation possible as it never was before and number five there was this known as the diaspora the diaspora it was a really weird season when the jews who didn't want this they were forbidden from living in jerusalem and suddenly they were dispersed or spread throughout the entire roman world and when you add all those things up together you start to see the why behind the weight where are you god what are you doing what were you doing in that season of silence well suddenly in those 400 years when people wondered where god was or what he was doing suddenly everyone for the first time could read the bible in a language that they understood for the first time they were not only allowed but encouraged to ask questions to the god who was about to send the answer whose name was jesus out of nowhere for the first time in the history of the world the good news of a savior could travel through a common language across roads and highways through jewish people who were spread throughout the entire roman world then to gentiles and beyond in other words while god's people were waiting god was still working in the same way while you're praying and you're wondering and you're hoping and you're asking in your waiting god is still working he's always working behind the scenes some of you right now you're exactly where i am in one area of my life you feel like you're in a holding pattern you're waiting believing doing everything you know to do trusting in a god who says he can and yet he hasn't you might be wondering what did i do wrong have i failed [Music] is it a lack of my faith is there sin in my life have i let god down does he not care about me if you're waiting you're not alone abraham and sarah waited 25 years to hold their baby isaac 25 years joseph had a vision to rule to lead to influence to save he waited 13 years much of it in prison for a crime he did not commit the woman with the issue of blood 12 years 12 years in private agony unable to function like a normal woman held up relationally interpersonally spiritually unclean 12 years to touch the hymn of the garment of the one who said your faith has healed you a man who couldn't walk for 38 years 38 years 38 years unable to walk before jesus looked at him and said pick up your mouth take it home on two feet you're healed while you're waiting while you're waiting right now and don't see anything god is working while you're hoping while you're wondering god is waiting i hope there's someone here that will hear this and you'll internalize it that god's delays are not necessarily god's denials just because he hasn't doesn't mean that he's not going to maybe it's just not the time yet in other words while you're waiting on it i don't know what it would be for you but some of you are waiting on it it's the you're waiting on the answer you're waiting on it you're waiting on the miracle you're waiting on the provision you're waiting on the relationship whatever it is maybe the reason you're waiting on it is because it's not ready god's still working on yes god's still working on it this is um indescribably emotional for me because when i came out of my sinful lifestyle in college i just decided um come hell or high water i'm gonna have a god-honoring marriage period so i stopped dating completely didn't date anybody for over two years which was a long time compared to you know where i came from and i took saturday nights and it was my date night with god in preparation for marriage i would journal and i read books and i listened to cassette tapes if you don't know what a cassette tape is ask your grandma that's what we had then and i listened to cassette tapes on marriage and i wrote um a letter every week to the one who would be my wife talking about how i would love and honor her and how i was praying for her and i waited on her what i didn't realize is that while i was waiting god was working because the one that he was preparing for me had grown up in the church and had been a really strong christian and in college much like many people wandered off the path and she wasn't walking intimately with jesus and while i was waiting god was working because he'd been drawing her back for a couple of months but she didn't really know how do you unwind the friendships and just you know leave and go completely back to god and god sent her a um a friend who came to her house and talked to her to roommates and just said i want to know i've fully surrendered my life to jesus and i'm going to go for him now and that's what i'm doing and she just looked and i said oh that's how you do it and that's what she did and on november the 19th 1989 after months of god working at the perfect time she said yes to fully surrender her life to jesus and a year later we were engaged and 30 years later we had six kids and more grandkids coming in god's perfect time what's so emotional to me is while i was waiting the one i was praying for the one that i was loving in my purity the one that i was loving in my patience god was working on her you may be waiting on it and i'll tell you right now god may be working on it or god may not be working on it because it may be ready but you may not be ready [Music] maybe god's waiting on you to get ready he's doing something in you he's doing something in you maybe you prayed and believed i'd be married one day and you're still single god's doing something in you maybe you're married and you're wondering god why don't you hear my prayer why don't you bring healing in my marriage maybe you're believing for the job that's going to meet the needs that you have in a way that really your education your preparation is is worthy of or you're like me in the holding zone and you're waiting and praying and begging and believing that god's going to bring healing to the young ladies in my life my daughters that i love so much while you're waiting god's working he may be working on it he may be working on you you may not be ready yet what i found is that god will often do something in you before he does something for you he does something in you before he does something for you you're waiting you're waiting you're waiting you're waiting you're waiting don't waste the waiting don't waste the waiting maybe what god is doing is he's he's teaching you to depend on him in a way you never have before maybe he's revealing his faithfulness to you in a way that you couldn't experience otherwise maybe he's teaching you patience you made a mistake a long time ago praying for patience there it is and he's teaching you patience maybe he's knocking something off of you maybe he's chipping away sin in you maybe he's conforming you to the image of christ maybe it's not ready maybe you're not ready whatever is going on don't waste the waiting don't waste the waiting learn to depend on him like never before maybe maybe he's drawing you close to get to know him in a way that you wouldn't otherwise don't waste the waiting i love what um the prophet isaiah said in isaiah 64 verse 4 he says since ancient times no one has heard no ear has perceived listen to me no one has heard and no ear has perceived no eye has ever seen any god besides you who acts on behalf of those who wait for him when you wait on god he acts on your behalf when you wait on god he moves on behalf of you he responds he initiates he interrupts no eye has seen no ear is heard no one is conceived the goodness the power the grace the glory of the god who acts on behalf of those who wait on him god's ways are always good his timing is always perfect you can trust him he's not ignoring you he hasn't forgotten you he loves you he cares about you he is always good our god knows the cries of your heart just because he feels silent doesn't mean god is absent what's he doing what's he doing well you're asking hoping waiting believing begging praying while you're waiting our good our powerful are all loving our all-knowing god he is working he's working and years from now when you look back you may see why the weight was worth it [Music] it's incredibly interesting to me that christianity is unique amongst all world religions when you think about it every other religious system people pursue their version of god think about it any other religious system you try to win the favor of god with good works you try to win the love of god with religious rituals you try to perform your way to his pleasure if you're good you gain favor if you're bad you lose favor you look at every other system of religion in the world and people try to work their way they pursue god but christianity is so different we serve a god who pursues us we serve a god who pursues us when the time was just right when the time had fully come when the moment was perfect god sent his son his one and only son god pursued you he sent jesus not for the righteous but for the sinners for the broken he sent jesus not for those who are already healthy but for those of us who are sick he sent jesus full of grace and full of truth he sent jesus the son who sets people free we serve a god who pursues us and maybe the god you're waiting for what if he's actually pursuing you i love the promises of god second peter 3 9 says this the lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness instead our god he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but our god wants everyone to come to repentance our god is patient our god is patient in the same way he was patient with me in the same way he was patient with amy maybe he's being patient with you because he wants everyone to come into the knowledge of his goodness his love his mercy and his grace he's patient what if the god you're waiting for is waiting for you what if at this moment he's wanting you to say yes to him if you're hurting if you're waiting believe me i understand been praying for a long time and continued to believe and still haven't seen the answer the provision the miracle the healing from god that i believe that we'll see but with everything in me i believe his timing is perfect i believe that he's always good and i believe that while i'm waiting i believe that while you're waiting our good god is still working so father today do a work in a way that only you can do we ask for you to work god even as we're waiting as you're reflecting and praying today all of our churches those of you that would say yeah there's something i'm waiting for there's a there's a prayer that feels unanswered there's a miracle that that you're you're hoping to come there's a provision that you have not yet seen there's healing or restoration that you're you're continuing to wait upon god to bring about if you find yourself waiting and you want god to have his way to do his will while you're waiting would you lift up your hands right now just all of our different churches just lift up your hands at them in a moment of surrender before god i thank you god that you're that nothing's wasted that you're always bringing about good so in a season when we don't really understand god build our faith deepen our trust in you draw us closer to you god than maybe we've ever been before help us to fully trust your character your nature your goodness and god to continue to wait believing in faith god we just believe that you can whatever it is we believe that you will god and even if you don't we still believe we still believe god for those who are waiting right now would you just comfort them help us to put our faith in you that you're still working god we trust you we trust you and we believe by faith god that at the perfect time at the right moment that you will do your perfect will on earth as it is in heaven as you keep praying today um what i love about amy's story is uh is god was drawing her for some time and she just didn't know exactly what to do at one moment one day she just said let's let's just go all in let's just do this let's just jesus be first in every way and the amazing thing is some of you you may have a story similar to that you may feel drawn to god you've kind of been flirting around with the things of christ you've been watching some messages looking at some clips on social media maybe come to church here and there maybe you grew up in church and yet you've drifted from god and today you're coming home you're coming back today god's been waiting what is the god you've been waiting for he's been waiting for you he's waiting for you he's waiting for you he loves you he loves you so much he loves you a ridiculous amount so much so that he became one of you god became flesh jesus born of a virgin not with the seed of an earthly father not inheriting the sin nature of mankind but conceived by the holy spirit god in the flesh jesus perfect the lamb of god the savior the messiah prophesied centuries before god that you sent so we could be saved forgiven and made new wherever you're watching from you may feel far from god you are a prayer away from your sins be forgiven and being in the very presence of a god is reaching out to you he's not slow in keeping his promises he wants you to come to a place of knowing his goodness knowing his love knowing his grace knowing his forgiveness wherever you're watching those who say i need it i want it today's the day right now today's the day today's the day today's the day today's the day is the perfect time the time is right my life is not my own today i give it to jesus the time is right now is the moment my life is no longer mine by faith i give it to jesus when you do god hears your prayers he forgives your sins you're new the old is gone and the new has come wherever you're watching you say yes today i fully surrender now is my moment i give my life to jesus that's your prayer lift your hands high now all of our churches say yes i surrender us we have hands going up all of our churches those of you online you just type it in the chat jesus i'm giving my life to you just type it in right now i'm giving my life to jesus and wherever you're watching would you just take a moment and pause and we're going to pray all of us together just pray aloud wherever you are just before god declared these words from your heart pray heavenly father i surrender my life today is the day i give you all of me jesus save me forgive the filth the sins make me brand new fill me with your spirit so i can follow you so i can show your love so i can do your will my life is not mine i give it all to you every bit today thank you for new life you have all of mine in jesus name i pray and in the perfect time god's people gave him praise gave him glory gave him honor welcome today those of you born into god's family

Channel: Life.Church

Views: 94,536

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Keywords: Craig Groeschel, Sermon, Life.Church, Lifechurch, life church, life church sermons, craig rochelle, groeschel craig, church sermons 2020, waiting, tell me why I’m waiting, waiting on god, waiting on god’s timing, waiting on god sermon, patience, wait on the lord, god’s timing sermon, gods timing always right, god’s timing is perfect, how to have patience, how to have patience in life, practice patience, God's timing, missing peace

Id: QDQJtA7dVGI

Length: 34min 19sec (2059 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 20 2020