The third man did not agree with either of these. He said, "I'll tell you about my praying. The best praying I ever did was hanging upside down in a well."

And I believe that God will work in our lives to get us into a position where we must rely upon Him. Maybe that is why we have to wait so often and so long. Waiting demands faith. And without faith it is impossible to please Him.

Are you a good waiter? I want to encourage you today to wait because ....

III. Waiting Brings Its Rewards.

Simeon and Joseph, two men who were waiting for the kingdom. I wonder if some thought they were crazy? I wonder if some thought they were empty-headed idealists? I wonder if Simeon and Joseph ever entertained the same thoughts about themselves?

Simeon waited and waited. Then there came the day when the Spirit of God moved on his heart, and he knew that the waiting was over. Simeon saw the baby Jesus in the temple, and he knew that this was the Messiah. He stepped forward and fulfilled his role in the drama of the ages as he took the baby in his arms and pronounced a blessing upon Him.

And Joseph of Arimathea was waiting -- waiting for the kingdom. There came the day when the Son of God was nailed to the cross. The sky turned dark, the earth quaked, and rocks were rent in pieces. At three o'clock in the afternoon, it grew deathly quiet, and the Son of God died upon that barren, skull-shaped hill.

Joseph knew that this was the Son of God. The kingdom was coming. Not like he had expected, but the kingdom of God was coming by way of a cross.

Joseph stepped forward and claimed the body of Jesus. He wrapped it and laid it in his own tomb which had never been used. What a sacred moment! This body, which shortly would be resurrected, was saved from the garbage heaps in the Valley of Hinnom. Here within sight of the cross, the resurrection would occur. The most significant event in history, and Joseph had had a role in that event.

When you are willing to wait on God, God can use you. Who knows all the ways that God wants to use you? Who knows what tasks He has for you if you are willing to wait on Him and be available to Him?

A missionary couple went to Brazil. In one of their newsletters which they mailed to friends, they included a calendar of events in their lives. At the top of the calendar they had written "Our Schedule." Under that heading they had placed goals for their ministry, and out beside each goal they had written a projected date for attaining it.

They had then crossed out the word "Our" on "Our Schedule" and had changed it to read "God's Schedule." Out beside each of the goals was a date when it had been met. Some still did not have dates by them. The couple concluded by saying that they had learned a lot about God's timing and the importance of waiting on Him.6

I want to challenge you to do something. I want you to take your schedule for life and turn it in. In its place I want you to take God's schedule.

Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to wait?

1. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1986), pp. 344-45.

2. Leslie B. Flynn, Holy Contradictions (Wheaton, Illinois: Victor Books, 1987), p. 34.

3. Paul W. Powell, I Like Being a Christian (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1983), p. 130.

4. Halford E. Luccock, The Acts of the Apostles in Present-Day Preaching (Chicago: Willett, Clark, & Co., 1938), p. 126.

5. Charles L. Allen, Home Fires (Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), p. 40.

6. Flynn, p. 42.