The Four Letter Word...

Wait.

We are so anxious to do our thing, what we think is right, we have lost the art of waiting on the Lord. In fact, where I come from, it may BE a "four letter word."
Waiting may look like disobedience to some, and you just have to be ok with looking bad. I actually heard it preached once, that "God didn't want you to sit and pray, but to do." I know it wasn't meant to come out like that, but I cringed, and felt so condemned, even as I was trying to obey what I knew the Lord was saying to me personally.
"Wait... Wait on Me... I will open the doors... I will promote you... I want a people with no mixture...do not promote yourself, but wait.... Learn to delight in being hidden, in just being Mine... Do not let the criticism or praise of man touch you."
All these things and more I have heard for over 16 years.
Do you know what the waiting showed me? That I didn't fully understand the vision He gave me. That knowledge grew over the years. I would have, in my limited understanding 16 years ago, done things in my own wisdom and done them wrong. It would have been too small...too ego driven....too controlled...too programed. I would have been tempted to be proud, had I been able to build anything, not realizing that those who build without Him, labor in vain. I would have had a lamp, but no oil.
It would have burned, and the burning would have hurt others who I brought along and sold my vision to.
God is good. If we will wait...trust...for years if need be, what He builds, will stand, and nothing shall prevail against it. Our own motives have to be purified, and that takes a long time.
We need to pray for the Holy Spirit to come like Fire. Burn whatever hinders my love for the Lord, and hinders receiving His love for me.
No....wait is not a bad word....it's wisdom and it's evidence of trust and submission, which brings peace.
Maybe we need to pray.."teach me to wait."
I dare ya......