Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. Hebrews 6:15
There are many cases in the Bible where people had to wait for God after He promised something for them (wait for a blessing or an assignment or a position).
He said the disciples are to wait for the Holy Spirit, and then when they received Him they acted. Joseph, David, Paul, Abraham, Isaac and many others got a promise and then they were waiting for the door to open for the promised to happen. In the meantime, they lived waiting for and expecting for the promised to happen, while they did the best they could with the opportunities that came their way to build character, get experience, and also feed family, raise kids, be a valuable part of their social circles, help others, etc. But, they didn’t try to fulfill the promised – the promised you have to wait for – it has to come from God in His time and through His channels and doors. If we try to fulfill the promised in our own way, earth will be full of projects that nobody knows what to do about, full of causes that nobody needs and we just hope that they help someone, full of help that doesn’t help but rather degrades the society. In essence, there are may Ishmaels (sorry if this is overused), and they are not born out of love and calling and promise, but rather as an expression of self, or desire to satisfy self, or due to simple impatience, because ‘life is running out’ and ‘I am capable of more than sitting tight, waiting on Gods promises’ and ‘others are achieving things, and I’m still stuck in waiting’, and many other reasons.
God is the Master Planner (Prov. 19:21, Eph. 4:11-16) and He has the Master Plan (Matt. 28:19-20). If you want to fit in with His Master Plan, then pray until you get a promise, a revelation, a rhema word into your life, a seed, a specific task (Eph. 2:10), and then wait for the promise, patiently preparing.
There are many things that I can do. Over the years I’ve acquired some experience, some connections, some wisdom, some money, etc. I can achieve a decent measure of things on my own. And life shows that I’m not ‘infertile’.
But.
I choose to wait on God to fulfill His promises to me. Yes, there are things that I can do and opportunities that I can follow, but I want to do God’s will, and only God’s will. It may appear foolish, it may appear naive, and it’s been too long, but it’s ok (God, give me strength and patience to the end!). I want God’s seed to sprout and grow on the good soil of my heart and life, and no other seeds which I’m showered with through many different sources. I don’t want a wrong seed to sprout and even destroy the good seed’s progress. And if I don’t have a promise-seed yet, I would rather protect my soil and wait for God’s seed to be sown, than just open myself up wide and let things come and grow as they wish.
My soil is for God’s seed, my soil is for God’s Word, my life if is for God’s talents. I choose to give him the exclusivity! (And again, God help me!)
God commands and commends us for multiplying GOD-given seeds. The life from HIM and from HIS vine is going through me (I am a branch) and I choose not to waste his life-giving food that is flowing up through His vine to feed me and give me life.
I don’t want to develop a parasite on my branch or simply produce lavish leaves.
So, I choose to patiently wait and thank God for the pruning that He does. I choose to cooperate with Holy Spirit to trim and shape my character to be like Christ. I choose to patiently, and with thankfulness, to let Holy Spirit develop His fruit in my life, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Because my character is essential in working with people. I’m am an heir to God and co-heir with Christ to Gods glory (Rom. 8:17), but that is coming in the future, and for now it is my responsibility is to allow God to develop a character that is right for the job and then do the job God wants me to do. Multiplication of seed and return on investment on God-given gifts is what our Jesus wants, He is gone for a time to claim His Kingdom (Luke 19:12), and He is coming back, and I want to do the most while here. But as anyone that worked on an project under a visionary, we know that there is time for getting to know the work, for training, for shaping the mind and mindset, and then for the work itself, and its important that our character and values don’t get in the way.
Bottom line is. I have a promise, or am waiting and praying for a promise from God and a task to be done. I’m waiting for the promised work to start, and I’m waiting for God to open the doors in His timing to fulfill the promise. In the mean time I allow and help Holy Spirit to work on my character and I work on training in the job God has for me by doing my best with what I have in my hands now (determined by my abilities and opportunities, which God knows very well (Ps. 139)). I do this trusting God that he is the one who teaches me what is good for me and leads me along the paths I should follow (Isaiah 48:17b). I also take care of my family, I raise children that will bring joy and help to us parents, and to people around us, and children that will follow my footsteps when they are grown and ready. I choose to bring the opportunities and seeds to God, in humility, to bless or to discard.