To wait on God is anything but doing nothing. In this sermon clip, Bill Johnson teaches the biblical meaning of three words that have been watered down in our culture today: “hope”, “wait”, and “patience”. Waiting on God with hope and patience is active and intentional, and positions our hearts ready to encounter Him.
[Music]
SO waiting on the Lord is to lie in wait
it’s anything but sitting back and doing
nothing
it’s actually positioning myself for
what God’s about to do
I want to talk to you about
three words
that have been
unfortunately redefined by Christian
culture instead of Kingdom culture
they’re words that are biblical terms
but when they’re not understood
according to biblical definition
we end up creating a culture that lowers
our standard of living to create
explanations for the absence of
breakthrough instead of launching us
into pursuing greater breakthrough
the church often creates theology around
what didn’t happen
instead of what the scripture says did
happen
the pool of Bethesda great example
history tells us it’s probably 900 to a
thousand people there Jesus healed one
person the Bible celebrates the healing
of the one
but if it were to happen today all the
interviewers would be talking to the 900
that didn’t get healed how did it feel
for Jesus to walk past you and theology
would be created around what didn’t
happen
so I want to talk to you about these um
um four words counting the word joy that
we’re going to look at in chapter eight
but three words they set us up for that
so the first one is the word hope we
talked about it last week I I spoke last
week about the issue of Hope the nature
of Hope the uh the requirement for me to
maintain a heart of Hope
the word hope in our culture is it’s
basically a wish man I wish that would
happen or I hope I hope that happens
that’s it’s like you know if things
really work good maybe this will come
about and that’s not the Biblical word
hope the Biblical word hope actually
means the joyful anticipation of good
hope gives you
permission
to enjoy the emotional benefits of an
answered prayer before it ever happens
that was better than your response that
was a lot that was a lot better
hope gives us permission to experience
the joy of a breakthrough Before the
Breakthrough comes it’s it’s too late
you missed your chance
okay
the joyful anticipation because actually
my favorite definition
um watching my wife’s family’s uh
Christmas time
remember the video eight
cameras and some of the old people
remember with the spotlights that could
peel paint on the wall they were so hot
and bright yeah
and uh and my my father-in-law would set
up the camera and Benny and my wife and
and her siblings would be at the end of
the hole just jumping up and down
jumping up and down on Christmas morning
waiting for them to say Merry Christmas
and as soon as he said Merry Christmas
he’s got the camera set as soon as they
said Merry Christmas they would come
running down that Hall turn around that
corner dive in into the Christmas tree
and begin to open gifts that thing at
the end of the hall that’s hope
bouncing up and down back there that’s
actually that’s the best different
definition I know of Hope
they know they don’t know what there is
they just know it’s good
and and that’s the Biblical word hope
is uh is something that I can
I can set myself up to increase in my
life I I talked about last week I don’t
want to repeat that but I can’t create
Faith but I can engage with God in a way
that builds hope and hope is the
atmosphere that Faith grows in hope it
be like the soil you know in a in a pot
and then you plant the seed of faith and
it grows in that atmosphere of Hope
and hope is is uh the expectation of
good is something that actually should
drive the heart the thought the prayers
of every believer
what would happen if we prayed in
expectation of good and not just the
shot in the dark hoping something will
happen
the second word that I want to uh
I was just actually I was ready to talk
about this Nehemiah thing this morning
first service and I started thinking
about all these words that that are so
common for us but they’ve because
they’re misunderstood they’ve created a
wrong culture
in how we think and do life and so I’m
just trying to kind of reset due north
again so the second word is the word uh
to wait
wait on the Lord
for most of us the word waiting on the
Lord means to sit down and do nothing
and make room for him to do something
he promised you know I hear people say
hear leaders say God knows we want
Revival he knows where our address is if
it’s his will
if that thought ever comes to mind slap
yourself or or ask your friend to do it
because they’ll gladly do it it’s it’s
it’s not is anybody else glad the wise
men didn’t stay in the Middle East
but they actually traveled towards
something they were in pursuit of
something the word wait on the Lord
especially like Psalms 37 waiting on the
Lord actually means to lie in wait
to lie and wait like in setting up an
ambush
it is reducing my options refining my
focus because I’m about to enter a God
moment and I don’t want to miss it
that’s what waiting on the Lord is
I’m a deer hunter
if you don’t like that just pretend I
take pictures
because all my hunts end with pictures
I would never go down to Mount Shasta
Mall
to hunt deer
there’s not any there
the whole point in laying in weight
is to discover where he’s at you say
well God is everywhere
but
I watched in the early 90s as people
would travel from all over the world
because they heard a rumor God was
moving powerfully in Toronto
entire plane loads of people from
England would be loaded with people just
going because they heard God was doing
something
one of the greatest acts of arrogance in
the life of a Believer is to sit back do
nothing and say if God wants me to have
it he knows where I’m at absolute
arrogance
it’s normal to hunt
pursue
I’m liberally using my favorite words
here
but but you get the point
you position yourself with a refined
Focus for a potential God moment because
they don’t all come with blazing horns
and Angelic whatever most of the god
moments that change people’s lives most
of them I think start very subtly
SO waiting on the Lord is to lie in wait
it’s anything but sitting back and doing
nothing
it’s actually positioning myself for
what God’s about to do
the third the third word
is the word patience
now I’m not going to ask how many of you
want to increase in patience because you
know what that’ll do you already know
but but here’s my friend Joe McIntyre is
home with the Lord now but he um
he did this word study he is he has a
number of books in her in her wonderful
books uh but he he
took an old book from many many many
years ago
on called Throne life
and he kind of brought it up to date
through his own experience tremendous
book
but in
James verse uh chapter 1 verses two and
four let me read these two verses for
you
said my brother encountered all joy when
you fall into various trials knowing
that the testing of your faith produces
patience now listen to this let patience
have its perfect work that you may be
perfect complete lacking nothing
anybody want the perfect complete
lacking nothing
realm okay it’s on the other side of the
door called patience and it’s it’s
literally going through that realm which
is a fruit of the spirit which means
it’s the it’s an Evidence of his working
in a person
now here’s what I never what I never
understood is how the word is actually
translated what it actually means
patience in our world is much more of a
passive toleration of things we don’t
like
yeah
amen Bill good point all right the word
translated patience two times in these
verses is defined as independent
unyielding defiant perseverance in the
face of aggressive misfortune
and thus to a kind of courageousness
in case you were daydreaming let me read
this to you again
this is patience now this is different
than the passive toleration of things we
don’t like
independent
many of you qualify already right there
is very patient
it was a joke unyielding
here’s here’s my favorite part defiant
perseverance in the face of aggressive
Misfortune and thus to a kind of
courageousness
what is patience
it’s the intolerance
of the enemy’s work
to kill steal and destroy
and it provokes and builds in us a kind
of courageousness that just says enough
that’s patience
that’s patience
yeah I’m so glad that you watched this
video I do pray that it’s a great great
strength and encouragement to you and
I’ve got a verse that it really is My
Cry for all of us and it’s Psalms 20
it’s verse 4. may he grant you your
heart’s desire and fulfill all your
plans
that’s my prayer that’s my prayers that
this would be the season of rich rich
fulfillment
thanks for joining us