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Note: Hey people I want to give a shout-out to Eli Miller, one of my peeps from International Team Ministries, who appears as a guest author on Todd Bentley’s Fresh Fire Ministries’ Teaching of the week. His article deals with the timely and crucial issue of “waiting on the Lord” and I highly recommend that you tune-in to this series.

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This is a two part teaching entitled Waiting on the Lord by Eli Miller, a frequent teacher at Fresh Fire Ministries’ Supernatural Training Centre. This week Eli will help you discover five different dimensions in waiting on the Lord; each level will bring you deeper and deeper into the heart of God. Next week Eli explains three more dimensions that, when acted upon, will rightly knit your heart together with His life-changing purposes. Eli’s biography is at the close of this teaching.

WAITING ON THE LORD ~ PART 1
By FFM Friend & Guest Author: Eli Miller

Waiting on the Lord is a spiritual exercise designed to discipline and train our spirit. Such discipline of spirit is essential to bring us into the place of complete union with the Lord. In fact, Scripture reveals eight dimensions, or levels, of waiting on the Lord. These are progressive steps He wants us to pass through, with each new step bringing us closer to Him and into a deeper relationship with His true purpose.

The dictionary meaning of wait is: to stay in a place; to remain inactive until something expected takes place. That definition could give us the idea that waiting means doing nothing. But, though we might remain inactive until something expected takes place, that does not mean we’re being passive while we’re waiting!

The various dimensions of waiting are revealed by the different words which are translated wait in scripture. Though I do not intend this to be a lesson in Hebrew or Greek, I will look at those words, and give a brief definition of each one.

1. ALL CREATION WAITS ON THE LORD

The first word we’ll look at is the Hebrew word SHABAR (shaw-bar). It means: to scrutinize; to look toward something with certain, patient, and expectant hope. It’s a word which is general in its scope, implying a common expectancy of what is to take place. This is the word used in Psalm 145:15, 16: “The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in due season …” A similar word is used in the New Testament for this kind of patient waiting: “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain” (James 5:7).

Here we see that in a general sense, everything God created looks to Him for their natural sustenance. Even mankind, though often without acknowledgment, receives its daily sustenance from the hand of the Lord. If the sun were to quit shining and the rain stop falling, and if the seasons got out of balance, the natural provisions that we so often take for granted would very quickly come to an end. All are from His hand.

The same word is used in Psalm 119:166 where the Psalmist said: “LORD, I hope for Your salvation, and I do Your commandments.” Here the word is used for the general sense of waiting (hoping) to have one’s desire for salvation satisfied. Isaiah used the same word to point out that one needs to be alive to have hope (wait) for anything: “For Sheol cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth” (Isa. 38:18).

From these examples we can see that this first dimension of waiting is very general. Everyone alive has something they wait, or hope for. Even the Lord waits for His own time-table to be fulfilled until the fruit of the earth is ready for harvest. This kind of waiting is part of the normal routine of life and relationships.

Click to read on….. 

2. GETTING MORE SPECIFIC

The second word we’ll look at is YACHAL (yaw-chal). This word means: to wait with a patient and expectant hope. It implies having confidence, in a more specific sense. This is the word Job used when he said: “All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes.” (Job 14:14). He used the same word when he stated: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him…” (13:15). Job used this word because his hope was directed toward a specific time and place.

Let’s look at Psalm 119:43: “And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in our ordinances.” Now on to verse 49: “Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope.” And in verse 74: “Those who fear You will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in Your word.”

In these verses the psalmist spoke of having his hope fixed and directed toward the word of the Lord. It was not just hope in a general way that everything would work out alright: It was a particular hope directed toward a specific word he had received from the Lord.

The prophet Micah used YACHAL to illustrate his confidence and trust toward the Lord in contrast with his trust of familiar friends. Micah’s confident trust was so complete in the God of his salvation that he could say emphatically, “My God WILL hear me!” It wasn’t that he didn’t have any trust for his close natural associates, but that his full confidence was directed toward his God Who alone was his deliverer. He could trust Him without fear of being betrayed in a way that he wasn’t able to trust even his closest natural relationships. (See Mic. 7:5–7).

Micah continued speaking of his confident expectation in his God: “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him, until He pleads my case and execute justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light, and I will see His righteousness” (Mic. 7:8, 9).

Hebrews 11:6 also speaks of having this same type of confidence and specific expectation: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Yet, if we aren’t expecting a specific answer, we’re not going to get one! We need to have faith that God is hearing us, and be confident in His ability to respond to what we’re waiting on Him for (1 Jn.5:14, 15). Then we also can say confidently with Micah, “I will wait for my God and He will hear me.”

The period of time from when we begin waiting on the Lord until we realize His answer is crucial. It is during this waiting period that we tend to get nervous and fidgety, and are often tempted to put our hand to helping God fulfill and bring to pass what we’re waiting on Him for. But we must be careful, for we are in God’s test of time.

The test we face during the waiting period is to keep our confidence completely focused on the Lord instead of in ourselves and the people around us. The world around us will continue to unravel until everyone and everything we have trusted in has proven untrustworthy. God permits this to happen to give us every opportunity to be exercised in the Spirit until we come into perfect accord with Him, fully confident that regardless of the time-frame, He is to be trusted.

The next word I want to look at begins to reveal what takes place within us as we’re waiting for the Lord to fulfill His word. It is the Hebrew word CHUWL (khool), or CHIYL (kheel). This word is used in a number of ways and has several meanings based on how it is used in the text. The meaning that is most applicable for this study is: to wait; writhe with (be in) pain, as in childbirth.

3. THE PAIN OF WAITING

The first reference I’ll look at which uses CHIYL is Psalm 37:7 where David exhorts us to “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him: do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.”

Waiting on the Lord patiently is where spiritual discipline really begins. While we’ve all had occasion to wait on Him, we haven’t always waited patiently! We usually get fidgety when getting answers to requests takes longer than we think it should. The more earnestly we desire to see whatever we are waiting for to be manifested, the more painful the time of waiting becomes. The more time that elapses, the more we are prone to try and “help” God fulfill His word. If we can’t help Him, we tend to murmur and complain, and begin to question whether He will really do what He said He would.

Perhaps you also have waited for a word to be fulfilled until it hurt. I certainly have. In fact, there have been times when I’ve felt an ache in my spirit as I’ve waited on the Lord to fulfill some particular words He’s given me. In a more general sense, I’ve been waiting to begin seeing the sons of God come forth for over 20 years. I long to see God’s people free from their bondage and walking in the liberty of spiritual and natural health, but I only need to look at myself to know that the wait is not over yet!

When the waiting process begins hurting, how do we respond? Do we wait patiently, or do we mummer and complain?

Isaiah 26:17–18 gives us a bit of understanding of how we might feel when we’ve waited until it hurts: “… As a woman with child is in pain and cries out in her pangs . . . so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were, brought forth wind; we have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth; nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.” (CHIYL is translated in pain.)

Have you ever felt like your own efforts have only brought forth wind? I’m reminded of the time when I was working with ewes at lambing time. When those ewes were ready to give birth they’d lie down and push, thinking they’d have their lambs right away. After pushing awhile, they would get up, turn around and look at what they had brought forth. Many times there was nothing there: All they’d brought forth was wind! They would lie back down and go through the same routine again until in due time their lambs were born.

That’s what usually happens when we have to wait longer for a word to be fulfilled than we think we should. We lose faith in God’s ability to accomplish what He said He would do and try to produce something with our own efforts, only to bring forth more wind. And we see that much
of the church’s effort for 2,000 years has only brought forth wind, and there is still no true deliverance in the earth, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. All creation still languishes in birth pangs for the life of God to be brought forth and revealed (Rom. 8:22).

But the Lord said, “Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?” (Isa.66:9a). The time for the delivery has come! Now all those in whom the Lord is pleased to reveal His sons, must learn the pain of travail as they wait for Him to fulfill His word.

When we see the turmoil and heart-ache of so many people around the world, we’re seeing the travail of creation groaning for the revelation of God’s sons (Rom.8:19). We must learn to endure a little pain as we wait, knowing that deliverance IS coming in God’s perfect time. He said it is coming, and that settles it! We must just continue waiting expectantly for it to come — even if it hurts.

Don’t be afraid of waiting until it hurts; stand still and let God bring you through the pain. When He does, you’ll truly have known His deliverance, and be better equipped to be a deliverer for others.

4. WAITING IN ASTONISHMENT

The next word in our study is DAMAM (daw-mam). It also is translated in numerous ways and means: to be dumb; to be astonished; to stop. It implies being dumb-founded because of having been struck with awe. It was this word that Joshua used when he told the sun to stand still upon Gibeon (Josh.10:12). The sun had never heard anyone speak to it like that before, and in its utter amazement, it obeyed and stood still!

Perhaps you’ve experienced the over-whelming presence of the Lord when not only were you afraid to move, but you didn’t know what to say. In your amazement you could only be still, dumb-founded, and astonished before Him, wondering what was going to happen next!

This is the kind of awe David had in mind when he used DAMAM in Psalm 4:4: “Be angry and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.” He’d seen God bring forth a mighty deliverance for him, and because of it, he’d come into such a place of godly reverence that all he could do was to be still, and wait quietly before his God.

As we wait on the Lord, our complete confidence must be centered in Him. It can’t be in our own ability or efforts to do anything; neither can it be in the ability of anyone else. We can respect people for who they are and have a genuine appreciation for them; but our confidence must solely be in God. Once we’ve learned this lesson through the pain of waiting, we will say with David; “He ONLY is my rock and my salvation: He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I SHALL NOT BE MOVED” (Ps. 62:6).

In today’s society we’re used to having something going on around us most of the time. Because of this habit, the Lord often must over-whelm us just to get our attention long enough to hear what He wants to say! But, God wants us to learn to quiet ourselves and be still before Him on our own initiative. It is there that we get the right perspective of where we’ve come from, as well as where He wants to bring us. It’s pretty difficult to get a clear perspective when we’re chattering like a magpie, or always have some distraction going on in the background!

The situation was quite similar in the days of Jeremiah. The Lord had tried repeatedly to warn Israel to repent of their evil ways, but they would not hear Him. Finally, when he could take it no longer, Jeremiah spoke with biting satire and stinging admonition: “Why do we sit still? Assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fortified cities, and let us be silent there. For the LORD our God hath put us to silence and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD” (8:14 DAMAM underlined).

If you’re in the habit of needing some type of sound going in the background to fill in your time and thoughts, be careful. Waiting on the Lord in quiet reverence is something we all need to allow ourselves to be exercised in. Although there are times when God might overwhelm us and cause us to be in absolute awe before Him, His desire is that we discipline ourselves to wait before Him in quietness. David understood his need for such discipline and said in Psalm 131:2: “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.”

5. WAITING IN ABSOLUTE SILENCE

When we’ve been “weaned” from our dependence on the many distractions of life and have learned to focus our full attention on the Lord, we are ready to go to the next dimension of waiting on Him. The Hebrew word which describes it is DUWMIYAH (doo-me-yaw). This word means: stillness; silence; quiet trust. It comes from a word which conveys the meaning of having been brought to silence, and is often used in the silence of death (see Isaiah 15:1). It implies a deep and absolute silence and trust in God beyond anything we’ve ever experienced.

David used this highly descriptive word in Psalm 62:1, 2 as he tried to convey his singleness of mind and absolute assurance he had in his God: “Truly my soul silently waits for God: from him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.” And when we have this revelation and we remain in an attitude of quiet trust before God, then the question of when He will answer our petition is no longer an issue because we know that He WILL answer, and His answer will come at the perfect moment.

The spiritual discipline of this level of waiting is perhaps best seen in Psalm 39:2 when David says: “… I was mute with silence, I held my peace even from good; and my sorrow was stirred up…” David was saying that he was so dumb with silence, so absolutely still in quiet and perfect trust before the Lord, that he held his peace, even from good! Now that is spiritual discipline!

This is the kind of discipline God wants us to have when we are faced with a situation where we want to say something, but He has not given us anything to say. Such spiritual restraint goes beyond just waiting in silence: it is waiting in the disciplined silence of death to our selves! It is not speaking nor moving until moved upon by the Lord.

This is the level of spiritual discipline Jesus had during His earthly ministry. He revealed this for us when He said He could not do nor say anything that He didn’t see and hear His Father doing (Jn.5:19, 30). He never did anything on His own initiative. Although He was the first born of many brethren, He never tried to impress anyone with His originality. He was in such a disciplined relationship with His Father that He could be absolutely quiet before Him, and wait on His perfect directives. Even when He was brought to His midnight trial and His life was on the line, “But He kept silent and answered nothing…” (Mark 14:61).

Are we ready for that kind of discipline and intense concentration of effort? Are we serious enough with the Lord to even want to be brought into such a relationship?

We’re not going to get into this level of waiting until we’ve first learned to endure some emotional and spiritual pain. This goes far beyond the understanding that most people have about waiting on the Lord. It goes beyond a general sense of expectancy and becomes specific and deliberate. It goes beyond just being quiet because of having been overwhelmed by His presence and brings us to a degree of silence that is the result of our own disciplined choices.

The precision of word and action that God wants to bring forth in His sons was also seen in Samuel the prophet. Scripture says that not one of his words fell on the ground (1 Sam.3:19). When we’ve been exercised to wait on the Lord to this extent, we can be assured of absolute accuracy in the words we speak and the actions we take.

NEXT WEEK

We’ll study three more dimensions, next week, in waiting on the Lord and we’ll see how each level is a progressive step in knitting our hearts together with God’s heart in deeper and greater intimacy. I’ll explain God’s response to us for being in such close communion with Him.

For more information please contact:
INSIGHT MINISTRIES
PO Box 8000-474, Abbotsford, BCV2S 6H1
Web site: www.insightministries.com
Email: imoffice@insightministries.com