Daily Devotional October 17 - Wait

"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD." Psalm 27:14

"Wait? You've got to be kidding. There's no more time to wait.
I need to do this and I need to do it now.
I want this thing and I want it now.
I need to marry this person and I need to do it now.
I need to do this business venture and I need to do it now.
I need to buy this thing and I need to buy it now."

"Why would God instruct you to wait on the LORD?
If God is all seeing and full of power, why can't God work around it for my sake?
What difference will it make if I wait? I will probably lose the opportunity and then what?
If I don't marry this person they will find someone else."

Are you sure?

God doesn't ask you to wait for all eternity, it might not even be for a day, but to wait until you hear from the Lord is wise. God does want you to wait until all of you questions have been answered before making important decisions. Don't purposely heighten the risk of whatever you have in mind by moving forward too quickly. Most of the time the only thing that requires immediate attention is response to a disaster and moving too quickly on other things can make a disaster. There is a best way to handle making decisions so that they turn out well:

• Don't pin yourself against the wall in the first place.
• Pray about your situation and see if you get a leading from the Holy Spirit concerning the matter.
• Make sure you look at whatever it is that you want from three distances; short term, along the way and long term. All three distances away from now have to fit or don't make the decision yet.
• Make sure you measure what it is that you think you have to have right now three ways;

I. Have I fully vetted the situation to make sure that what I think I am getting is what I am getting? It takes a little time to figure this out.
2. Do I know enough about what I am getting to know that it will be sufficient along the way for beginning to end, to meet my needs (financial, emotional, spiritual)? If not take some time and find out.
3. Is this thing I have to have right now going to end well? Are there other considerations that need my attention before I give it over to destiny? Do I really know what the outcome will be?

The best way to tell the outcome is to measure it carefully in the beginning to make sure it meets these next three criteria:

1. Can what you want be sanctioned by God?
2. Is what you want able to follow godly criteria? Can you use godly principles in the business you want to buy? Is the person you chose a godly man or woman? Is your business venture, idea, sound and fair or is it a gimmick, an MLM or other type of scheme? Is where you want to go full of enticements that might steer you off the track?
3. Can you talk to God and listen to God with a clean conscience along the way if you choose this thing/person you want?

If you are thinking that all of this is just poppycock, you really do need to take some time, take a sabbatical from the pressure of the moment and wait. It will be the best decision you ever made.