We often hear about the benefits of waiting on God, but what about the consequences of NOT waiting on Him?
I confess, patience is not my strongest virtue. I don’t wait well. I am a classic type-A personality who feels that if I’m not ‘doing’ something, I must be in sin.
This mindset has landed me in a heap of trouble on more than one occasion. I have impulsively run into a marriage without asking God first, purchased high-ticket items without counting the cost, and made life-changing decisions without wise counsel. And I have paid the price dearly.
Waiting is an essential part of the Christian life and, as I learned, there are hefty consequences to not developing this spiritual discipline.
Consequence #1: You’re out of God’s will.
The moment you got ahead of God is the moment you stepped out of His will.
King Saul was out of the will of God when he offered a sacrifice before going to war. The passage 1 Samuel 13:13-14 shares the consequence for not waiting on God: “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.” Instead, the Lord sought a new King to replace Saul.
Consequence #2: Your blessings are delayed, or even denied.
Snap judgments and impulsivity may be excused for children, but not for mature Christians. God is more concerned with your maturity than your blessings. He will delay blessings if it will help you grow.
King David was a classic example of impulsivity. In 2 Samuel 11, we learn the story of how David spied the beautiful Bathsheba bathing on the roof and just had to have her. He didn’t inquire of the Lord first. He acted on his desires, and it cost him dearly. He committed more sins to cover up the first sin. In doing this David lost his newborn child, lost control of his own children, and lost out on the opportunity to build the Lord’s Temple.
Yes, God can and often does restore, but why would you want to go through an ordeal if you didn’t have to?
Consequence #3: We bring pain upon ourselves and others.
Abraham and Sarah were promised a son but they weren’t content to wait for the promise to come to pass. They decided to take matters into their own hands. Figuring they were old and didn’t have time to waste waiting, Sarah suggested that Abraham have a child with her handmaiden Hagar, who gave birth to Ishmael. This created terrible hatred and jealously to the point where Hagar and her son Ishmael were banned from their presence and sent off to die. Talk about rejection! There was so much pain and suffering that could have been avoided had Abraham and Sarah exercised a little patience and waited on God.
We live in a society that wears impatience as a badge of honor. But when we apply that impatience to God it can have grave consequences.
God will not honor our impatience. However He will always give us the opportunity to repent, and He often gives us the chance at a do-over.
Don’t miss or even delay your blessing because you refuse to wait on God. He can be trusted and He wants to bless you beyond your imagination (Ephesians 3:20).
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