homeschooled By GOD – Lesson Five: Just Wait
Lessons Learned in the Classroom of Life
new YEAR, new YOU
January 12th, 2022
Psalm 40:1-3, ‘I waited and waited, and waited some more, for God. At last, He looked; finally, He listened. He lifted me out of the ditch (the slimy pit), pulled me from deep mud. He stood me on a solid rock to make sure I wouldn’t slip. He taught me how to sing the latest God-song, a praise-song to our God. More and more people are seeing this: they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.’
LESSON FIVE: Just Wait
So, I thought my time in the classroom of life was complete and my homeschooling days were over; that I had graduated with a decent passing grade and was ready to move on. Maybe I could even consider entering the next phase of my walk with the Lord where real Christians who were blessed lived successfully.
From the minute I first encountered God in that lonely motel room when He spoke directly to my dire situation and the pit I had been buried in, to the moment I could look back on all the different things He delivered me from, where I had trusted Him and been obedient to His teaching, thus letting go, was almost a year and a half. It was incredible what He had done for me. I cannot express the vast details He worked out on my behalf, truly redeeming my life from a pit and setting me on a higher ground and placing His promises in my mouth to then share with others.
But it didn’t end there. Before I knew it, I again was, if not immersed, I was swimming in a sea of concern and hurt and drowned relationships. Just before submersion, the Lord spoke again. He said that the instructions I had received previously, my prior homeschooling experience had not only been about the time period I found myself in then; it was pertinent for now as well. He told me the instructions, ‘Trust Me. Be obedient. Let go.’ would always be progressive for me and I could always count on its rewards in exchange for my willingness to attend the lesson.
It wasn’t very long after, I found myself struggling again, swimming against strong undercurrents. I felt the Lord rescue me in the midst of my floundering, and He reminded me again, of the words He’d spoken to me, ‘Trust Me. Be obedient. Let go.’ They would always be significant for me, but He told me He was adding additional instructions, and this time, He included, ‘Just wait.’
So, what does waiting mean? We live in an instant world. We are unaccustomed to waiting for anything. In fact, we have a hard time teaching our children and grandchildren to be patient because we ourselves don’t choose to wait. We do not wait to hear from the Lord on what He thinks is best for us for our futures; we plunge and forage ahead. We do not wait to acquire possessions when we can afford them; we simply purchase on credit so we can have anything we desire immediately. We do not wait on intimacy in relationships for the promise of marriage and forever; we settle for what is here and now in the heat of the sexual moment. We microwave our futures on immediate and temporary settings so we can experience forever right now, which is a lie of the enemy. But God says, ‘Do not sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.’ It makes me think about Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac on a permanent altar of his obedience to God, and thus, God multiplied Abraham’s blessings to number the sands on the shore and the stars in the sky.
God’s promises will never disappoint when we trust Him; when we are obedient to Him; when we let go of anything that hinders us from recognizing and choosing Him; and when we wait patiently on Him. He will always, always give us the ability to be challenged by and be capable of adhering to the instructions He gives us, so we can pass any class He places in, for our good and for His glory.
Psalm 46:10a, ‘Surrender your anxiety. Be still, cease striving and realize that I am God.’
