Wait on the Lord

[0:00] He's measured the heavens with the span of His hand. The span of His hand. That's how big your God is. That's how big the everlasting God is.

[0:13] The creator of the ends of the earth, the extremity of the universe, is just a span of a hand to God Almighty. And if you want strength and power, then He is the one who contains it all.

[0:26] He is the one that we can wait upon and find that strength as we wait upon Him. And to wait upon the Lord, it needs to have faith. It needs to hope, to pray in patient endurance.

[0:39] Psalm 27 verse 14 it says, Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.

[0:51] That is what we must do. We must wait on the Lord. Pray, seek His face, hope in Him, trust in Him. A preacher Warren Wiersbe said, One of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is waiting on God.

[1:07] How much do we wait upon Him? He goes on, especially difficult in the midst of trials. It's in trials that we find it hard to wait upon the Lord, but that is when He builds your faith.

[1:19] When you wait upon the Lord in trials, that is when He builds your faith. Now, I often get calls from people seeking counsel or comfort, discouraged people, defeated people.

[1:33] And it's common. And if only, if only, people would wait upon the Lord, they would renew their strength. If only we could take this scripture and make it personal, we can renew our strength.

[1:47] It's got the sense of, we exchange our strength with His strength. It's a giving up of our own and a taking on of His. We swap our lack of strength with His divine and great strength.

[2:02] Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China said, Many Christians estimate difficulty in the light of their own resources, and thus they attempt very little.

[2:16] And they always fail. All giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on His power and His presence to be with them.

[2:30] Now, every one of us, including me, can feel incredibly weak, incredibly inadequate, incredibly unworthy to do anything for God. And yet, it's His great power.

[2:42] It's when we exchange our weakness with His strength. It's when we renew our strength by the exchange. And when we're faced with problems, the real question is not, How big are your problems?

[2:57] But how big is your God? That is the question. It's been said that a child asks a question. Why don't the stars fall down?

[3:10] And the astronomer asks the same question. Why don't the stars fall down? And the answer is the same. It's essentially that there is a mysterious power or energy that upholds everything and prevents our cosmos from collapsing into chaos.

[3:28] And Hebrews 1.3 says that of the Lord Jesus, that He upholds all things by the word of His power. The energy of the universe is at His command.

[3:40] And God is the personal power that holds it all together. In Him all things consist. He holds it all together. That one who has the great power to create the universe.

[3:51] The creator of the heavens and the earth. That one who has divided the Red Sea to bring the Israelites freedom from the Egyptian bondage. That one with great power who brought about the virgin birth of our Saviour.

[4:06] The one with great power who raised Him up from the dead and conquered death and hell. That God, that Almighty God is your God. Can you but see that you can exchange your weakness with His strength.

[4:20] Our God is the only one and true God. He has the power. He has the power to answer your prayer. To hear your prayer. To answer your prayer. To respond and meet your need.

[4:31] To change your life. That God is able. Seek His face. Seek His leading. When you may face problems that seem like the Red Sea. It seemed like everything was impossible.

[4:44] And yet as they caught upon the wonder working God. Who upholds all things. He can make that which seems impossible. Possible. That whatever our circumstance or situation.

[4:57] His real power can come. And make a difference. The power of God that created the earth. That destroys the enemy. As He enveloped the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

[5:09] That same power can come and be residing. Within your life and mine. That we can wait upon the Lord. And we can renew our strength.

[5:20] It goes on there. In Isaiah 40. Verse 31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. You can exchange your strength. To have it renewed. As a change of clothing.

[5:31] What is going to happen? It says that you shall rise up with wings as eagles. You shall mount up with wings as an eagle. This power of God is an uplifting power.

[5:44] He uplifts us with His power. He lifts us. He takes us up. He lifts us up to higher ground. To a higher place. He is our source of victory. He takes us from defeat to victory.

[5:56] He lifts us up by His power. He gives us the strength to rise above. The strength to overcome. Like an eagle rises up with powerful wings.

[6:07] And if you would but put your hope in the Lord and rely upon Him. He will renew your strength. He will help you to rise above the difficulties, the circumstances of life.

[6:18] And if need be, you'll go through the Red Sea too. He might take you through that time of trial. He may not take the trial, but He'll help you through. He may not take you away from the shadow of death, but He'll walk through that valley with you.

[6:34] And the Lord is the one who's got that mighty power that we can exchange our limited resources, our limited strength, our inadequacies with His unlimited resources, His limitless strength.

[6:47] And the Christian life is the exchanged life. It's where we exchange our life with His life. He'll take you through the fire. He'll take you through the flood.

[6:58] I will be with you, He says to you. You shall mount up with wings as eagles. You can be like Job. He was tried. And yet, He says in Job 23.10, He's going to come forth as gold.

[7:11] Waiting. Test your patience. Maybe you're in that waiting time. Maybe you're in a crucible at the moment. Where the heat is being applied. Wait upon the Lord. Wait upon Him. Persevere in prayer.

[7:23] Trust Him. It says you're going to run and not be weary. He gives us energizing power. A stamina to run. The Christian life is a running race. It's a marathon effort.

[7:34] And like an athlete, He'll give you that energy that you need. Keep on. Keeping on. Keep on racing. Keep on running. He is the ultimate energizer. That creative energy that created the universe is that same energy that resides in you.

[7:50] That trust Him. That energy. That fervency. That vigor. That strength. Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. And He shall strengthen thine heart.

[8:01] You shall walk and not faint. He gives you sustaining power for that day by day walk. The Christian life is a walk. It's something that is a day by day and every day.

[8:12] And walking pictures our daily conduct as a Christian. Our daily behavior. When you wait upon the Lord, you're going to walk and not faint. You're going to be sustained by a power that is beyond your own.

[8:25] Greater than your own. You'll be able to go through the walk. The day by day by day. The mundane. The regular. The everyday. Moment by moment.

[8:36] He'll help you to go through and keep on walking. And 1 John 2.6 it says. That we should walk in the same manner as Christ walked. That we should walk in a manner that's worthy of the gospel.

[8:49] The psalmist who had so many tears and tests. He cried out. Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. So when you may face an uphill battle.

[9:01] You might face conflict. You might face testing. Walk and not faint. Because you wait on the Lord. You're going to renew your strength. You will not lose heart. You will not opt out of the race.

[9:13] You might feel I've got so many burdens. I'm so loaded down. It's such a heavy load. He says cast your burden upon me. For I care for you. The omnipotent one. The almighty one.

[9:24] The creator of the ends of the earth. He doesn't weary or faint. He is the one that you can rest on. He is the one you can lean on. He is the one who can carry your load.

[9:35] He gives power to the weak. To the faint. To the worn. To the tired. Learn to lean. Learn to lay your burden upon him. And wait upon him.

[9:47] Don't wait on the pastor. Don't wait upon human strength. Wait on the Lord.