Wait For It...

Elijah by the brook...

And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; � And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. (1Ki 17:2-7)

It doesn�t say, but I think there was some passage of time between verses 2 and 7 here. Imagine Elijah sitting by the brook (where God told him to go) and slowly, steadily the brook gets less and less and less. Finally there is no water at all. Well, isn�t that what Elijah had prayed for, that the rain would stop? So, he got what he prayed for. Then, Elijah had to sit there waiting, and waiting and waiting while the water slowly goes away.

How many of us could do that? Can you simply sit and wait on God? I think most saints would get pretty nervous watching the brook slowly dry up. Far too many would get up and start moving before God said: Now Go to the widow.

Oh, how much we desire to be God�s instrument! That�s good.

Many people do not even think of God during the day, or only think about Him when they are in need. The first step of obedience is to desire, long for, thirst after the will of God with a passion that will not give up. We pray that the Holy Spirit so fill us that we can do all the great works to His glory. That�s good. And it�s right that we should have that desire.

So why doesn�t it just happen right away? We pray for His will, we desire His will; we want to DO SOMETHING RIGHT NOW. Ahhh� there�s the catch.

To be a perfect servant means not only doing what God desires, but to do at the place and the time that He desires. And so, we must also learn the obedience of patience. That last bit of carnal nature where we desire to have the knowledge, the self-control, and the gifts of the Spirit at the time and place we choose has to be brought completely under His control.

We have to learn to be like Elijah. If God says, �Go to and wait�� then we must learn to sit and wait as Elijah did. Things may get a little dry from time to time, but that doesn�t mean God has abandoned us. It means simply that He is removing from us any and all things that need to be removed until we reach that place of perfect obedience and faith.

Then the power comes.

�And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.� (Act 1:4-5)

Did you catch that part about �wait for the promise of the Father?� The disciples were not imbued with power immediately after the resurrection. They had to sit in Jerusalem and wait. Like Elijah, they were required to simply sit and wait on God to move first. This is the second level of obedience of faith. We must desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit. We must also have the obedience and trust that these things will come when the time is ripe.