Bill Johnson - What It Really Means to Wait on God
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 is about to do. I want to talk to you about three words that have unfortunately been redefined by Christian culture instead of Kingdom culture. They are biblical terms, but when they’re not understood according to their biblical definition, we end up creating a culture that lowers our standard of living to make 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 is a great example. History tells us there were probably 900 to 1,000 people there, yet Jesus healed one person. The Bible celebrates the healing of the one, but if it happened today, all the interviewers would be talking to the 900 who 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 four words, including the word joy, which we will explore in chapter eight, but let’s start with three words that set us up for that. The first one is the word hope. Last week, I spoke about the issue of hope, the nature of hope, and the requirement for me to maintain a heart of hope. The word hope in our culture is basically a wish: «Man, I wish that would happen,» or «I hope that happens.» It’s like, «If things really work out, 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 better! Hope gives us permission to experience the joy of a breakthrough before the breakthrough comes. It’s too late; you missed your chance! The joyful anticipation is actually my favorite definition.
I remember watching my wife’s family during Christmas time. Some of the older folks might remember the video cameras with the spotlights that could peel paint off the walls because they were so hot and bright. My father-in-law would set up the camera, and my wife and her siblings would be at the end of the hallway, jumping up and down on Christmas morning, waiting for him to say «Merry Christmas!» As soon as he said, «Merry Christmas!» they would come running down that hall, turn around the corner, dive 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 the best definition I know of hope. They don’t know what’s there; they just know it’s good. The biblical word hope is something that I can set myself up to increase in my life. I talked about this last week; I don’t want to repeat that, but I can’t create faith. However, I can engage with God in a way that builds hope, and hope is the atmosphere that faith grows in. Hope would be like the soil in a pot, and then you plant the seed of faith, and it grows in that atmosphere of hope. Hope is the expectation of good and should actually drive the hearts, thoughts, and prayers of every believer. What would happen if we prayed in expectation of good and not just hoped something would happen?
The second word I want to discuss is the word to wait. For most of us, the phrase «waiting on the Lord» means to sit down and do nothing, making room for Him to do something He promised. You know, I hear leaders say, «God knows we want revival; He knows our address.» If that thought ever comes to mind, slap yourself or ask your friend to do it, because they’ll gladly do it. Is anybody else glad the wise men didn’t stay in the Middle East but actually traveled toward something? They were in pursuit of something. The phrase «wait on the Lord,» especially in Psalms 37, actually means to lie in wait—like setting up an ambush. It involves reducing my options and 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 am 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 the Mount Shasta Mall to hunt deer; there aren’t any there! The whole point in lying in wait is to discover where He’s at. You say, «Well, God is everywhere,» but I watched in the early 90s as people traveled from all over the world because they heard a rumor that God was moving powerfully in Toronto. Entire plane loads of people from England were loaded up just 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 and pursue. I’m liberally using my favorite words here, 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 start very subtly.
So, waiting on the Lord is to lie in wait; it’s anything but sitting back and doing nothing. It’s actively positioning myself for what God is about to do. The third word is patience. Now, I’m not going to ask how many of you want to increase in patience, because you know what that will do—you already know! My friend Joe McIntyre is now home with the Lord, but he did this word study. He has a number of wonderful books, and he took an old book from many years ago called «Throne Life» and brought it up to date through his own experiences. It’s a tremendous book! In James 1:2-4, it says, «My brethren, count it 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 and complete, lacking nothing.» Does anybody want the perfect, complete, lacking nothing realm? Okay, it’s on the other side of the door called patience, and literally going through that realm is a fruit of the Spirit, which means it’s evidence of His working in a person.
Now, here’s what I never understood: how the word is actually translated. What it actually means—patience in our world is more of a passive tolerance of things we don’t like. Yeah, amen, Bill, good point! The word translated as patience two times in these verses is defined as independent, unyielding, defiant perseverance in the face of aggressive misfortune, and thus 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 tolerance of things we don’t like. Independent—many of you qualify already right there; it was a joke! Unyielding—here’s my favorite part: defiant perseverance in the face of aggressive misfortune, and thus a kind of courageousness! What is patience? It’s the intolerance of the enemy’s work to kill, steal, and destroy, and it provokes in us a kind of courageousness that just says, «Enough!» That’s patience.