I often say Christianity, seen correctly, is primarily about relationship with the One who is Life. Working in Africa with no agenda dictated by other men means you sometimes have to decide what to do with your day. There may be nothing urgent to attend to. I can usually think of something to do, but I must choose to believe God is sufficiently interested in me persoanlly to have something to say. This can be a time to wait on the Lord.
To truly wait on the Lord is to be willing to do His bidding. It is to put aside our agenda. Even our 'Christian' agenda. If we have resources and friends, we can do something 'Christian' without waiting on the Lord. It may not clearly reflect the heart of God though.
I am not saying we should be paralysed from doing anything until we have clearly heard from God. Some responsibilities are immediate and obvious. Some guidance is just living out our knowledge of righteousness with situations that present themselves. (We personally have regular commitments 4 days of the week and often school assemblies on 2 other days). However, we should be cultivating this attitude of waiting on the Lord. God may communicate by impression, prompting, inner check, dream, direct word, advice of a friend, Bible verse, maybe another way. If we are sincerely waiting on God, even if we make a mistake, He will clear up and correct; pick us up and dust us off.
If we are to spend time in this way, we must have a conviction that God does want to speak. He is not wanting to find fault all the time. He is passionately and lovingly interested in our lives and callings.
Today I have on my heart a group of young men in the squatter camp we visit. They sometimes hang out near where Julia does a Bible study on Thursdays. The impression I got was that I should pray further about ways to reach them and perhaps approach them today. (I also find this idea intimidating, so I must pray for boldness too).
God will speak as far as we are willing to hear. If we have set our own boundaries and hardened our hearts, we may not hear. Repent and start again. His demands are not onerous. He will not force us to obey.
Often Julia gets the same promptings as me, or related ones. This week we have both been getting impressions about a couple who live in a nearby township, Wattville. They are Gift and Mary. Julia phoned Mary, and together they have been to the Municipality offices researching the land zoning in Wattville. It turns out that a plot of land that Pastor Gift and I (Simon) went to look at recently is zoned for 'faith group activities' amongst other things. So we could be on the right track with a children's centre there.
Now these impressions need to be rightly submitted to relevant spiritual leadership. The pastor of the church we go to suggested Wattville as a location and a member of the congregation introduced us to pastor Gift. Even the Apostle Paul himself submitted his revelations of Christ and the Gospel to the existing apostles for confirmation and approval. However church oversight should not be so overbearing or elitist that individual initiative before God is crushed out. If we turn out to be wrong on this one, God will still guide us on.
David at times was recklessly abandoned to the leading of God. When he shrunk back into natural reasoning and reassurance, he was severly disciplined by God. God was placing very high responsibilities on David as His chosen King over His people Israel. He was also called into a position of prophetic prominence in the earthly lineage of Jesus Christ. (Think about it. God became a man. He took on human form. And he chose a human lineage. And He chose David to be perhaps the most promonent, most honoured figure in that Lineage, see Revelation ch 22v16). We have seen that David was disciplined harshly for stepping out of love in 2 Samuel ch12. What is surprising is that God's wrath was also triggered by David attempting to rely on natural strength. This should be a sobering warning to people in senior spiritual leadership, (2 Samuel ch24). We might see these types of mistake as a trivial or excusable. There may be no physical consequence, but there could be serious spiritual ones. Again, grace and the fear of the Lord are two sides of a 'coin' of knowing God.
Back to waiting on the Lord. This theme is frequent in Psalms and Isaiah and there are promises made to those who practice this habit. They shall not be ashamed. Ps 25v3. They shall be preserved, Ps 25v21. They shall be strengthened, Ps 27v14. He is their help and shield, Ps 33v20. They shall inherit the earth, Ps 37v7 (!!). They shall see the vengeance of God on the wicked, Ps 37v34. He is their defence, Ps 59v9. He is their salvation, Ps 62v1. He is their provider, Ps 104v27. They shall see His mercy and redemption, Ps 130v6-8. They shall rejoice and be glad, Is 25v9. They shall experience His grace, and be blessed and exalted by Him, Is 30v18. They shall renew their strength and soar in life, Is 40v31. They shall be delighted and astonished at what He has prepared for them, Is 64v4!
Probably worth sticking at then!
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