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I
Waiting and Working
‘They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, which worketh for him that waiteth for Him.’—Isa. 40:31, 64:4.
Here we have two texts in which the
connection between waiting and working is made clear. In the first
we see that waiting brings the needed strength for working—that
it fits for joyful and unwearied work. ‘They that wait on the
Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up on eagles’
wings; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not
faint.’ Waiting on God has its value in this: it makes us strong
in work for God. The second reveals the secret of this strength.
‘God worketh for Him that waiteth for Him.’ The waiting on God
secures the working of God for us and in us, out of which our work
must spring. The two
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There are some who say they wait
upon God, but who do not work for Him. For this there may be
various reasons. Here is one who confounds true waiting on God (in
living direct intercourse with Him as the Living One), and the
devotion to Him of the energy of the whole being, with the
slothful, helpless waiting that excuses itself from all work until
God, by some special impulse, has made work easy. Here is another
who waits on God more truly, regarding it as one of the highest
exercises of the Christian life, and yet has never understood that
at the root of all true waiting there must lie the surrender and
the readiness to be wholly fitted for God’s use in the service of
men. And here is still another who is ready to work as well as
wait, but is looking for some great inflow of the Spirit’s power
to enable him to do mighty works, while he forgets that as a
believer he already has the Spirit of Christ dwelling in Him; that
more grace is only given to those who are faithful in the little;
and that
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On the other hand, there are some,
there are many, who work for God, but know little of what it is to
wait on Him. They have been led to take up Christian work, under
the impulse of natural or religious feeling, at the bidding of a
pastor or a society, with but very little sense of what a holy
thing it is to work for God. They do not know that God’s work
can only be done in God’s strength, by God Himself working in
us. They have never learnt that, just as the Son of God could
do nothing of Himself, but that the Father in Him did the work, as
He lived in continual dependence before Him, so, and much more, the
believer can do nothing but as God works in him. They do not
understand that it is only as in utter weakness we depend upon Him,
His power can rest on us. And so they have no conception of a
continual
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Among the members of the body of Christ there is a great diversity of gifts and operations. Some, who are confined to their homes by reason of sickness or other duties, may have more time for waiting on God than opportunity of direct working for Him. Others, who are overpressed by work, find it very difficult to find time and quiet for waiting on Him. These may mutually supply each other’s lack. Let those who have time for waiting on God definitely link themselves to some who are working. Let those who are working as definitely claim the aid of those to whom the special ministry of waiting on God has been entrusted. So will the unity and the health of the body be maintained. So will those who wait know that the outcome will be power for work, and those who work, that their only strength is the grace obtained by waiting. So will God work for His Church that waits on Him.
Let us pray that as we proceed in
these
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1. It is only as God works for me, and in me, that I can work for Him.
2. All His work for me is through His life in me.
3. He will most surely work, if I wait on Him.
4. All His working for me, and my waiting on Him, has but one aim, to fit me for His work of saving men.