Sometimes we have to wait many years before the Lord moves. In the meanwhile we are being urged to come down from the cross; come down from the wall; if you are a son of God, do something, prove it to us.

Our flesh jumps. Our soul is excited. The voices cry. The rocks fly and the mountain shakes. But the quiet Voice still has not spoken.

Sometimes we have to plow ahead, doing what we think is best. But we must always be looking to the Lord. It is easy to be in the Lord one moment and out of the Lord the next. Peter said, "You are the Christ." Jesus answered, "My Father revealed this to you."

The next moment, "Lord, do not go up to Jerusalem." Jesus responded to Peter:

. . . "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23—NIV)

One moment Peter was hearing from God. The next moment he was hearing from Satan.

We need to be very careful at all times. We never, never, never are to take anything for granted but to pray carefully about each decision. Such extreme diligence in prayer will become increasingly important in the days to come.

Every true saint is dealt with severely in the area of obedience. Sometimes many years go by while we are denied what we desire fervently, or we are required to do that which is displeasing to us. Many years!

What we are hearing today is that Christians should take their gifts and go forth and try to save the world. The assumption is made that this is what Christ has commanded us to do in the Bible.

This is not how to serve the Lord. The way to serve the Lord is to meditate in the Scriptures constantly, and then wait on the Lord. It is so easy for our desires to masquerade as God's will. The experienced saints know this. They have learned to wait, and wait again, and wait again.

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. (Psalms 27:13,14—NIV)

In order to thus submit our will to God we have to believe God is more interested in saving the world than we are. We have to trust that God knows what He is doing and has the power to put His own plans into action.

We can charge forth in our own strength and wisdom to do God's work, as we understand it. Or we can pray one step at a time, in all our ways acknowledging Him.

It is my opinion that there is not enough waiting on the Lord in our day. There is too much emphasis on large numbers of people, exciting meetings, grand pronouncements. This is not always the way of the Lord. When God makes witnesses or fishermen He often deals with them for many years before bringing them into an area of fruitfulness—not always, but often.

We overcome the accuser by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of our testimony that God is truthful, faithful, and compassionate, and by loving not our life to the death.

It is this third area that is in focus today, I believe.

To be continued.