NOTE: The doctrinal viewpoint expressed in these Bible studies is the author, Caleb a.k.a. Aaron Tan’s personal view. They may not align in all aspects with the orthodoxy of the places of worship (if named or referenced) where these bible study(s) may have been presented.
Have you ever asked, “Why did God take easily 3 centuries to answer the cry of the children of Israel when they were enslaved by Pharaoh?” God can answer their prayer in one day. Or one week. Perhaps one year! How about giving David the crown soon after he was anointed by Samuel to be the next king? Why would God allow David to wander through crises and hardships for 15-odd years? Did you know when the Prophet Isaiah received the vision that the virgin shall give birth to a child and would name him, “Immanuel, God with us”; it took approximately 730 years for the initial part of that prophecy to take place?
Why such a long wait? Where did these people go wrong? Could it be because of their sin or generational curse that trapped them in misfortune for decades? Or could it be because God wasn’t ready to respond to their cry? What could be the reason?
The main issue I hope to address in this post is, waiting. All the above case studies involved waiting. Today, many of us are still waiting for prayers to be answered. I personally know of some people who are stuck in a challenging season for a long time. They have one thing in common, and that is, they are waiting for a breakthrough! Waiting for a long period can lead to disappointment. Disappointment opens the door to anxiety, depression, hopelessness etc.
To grab the concept which I’m dealing with here, we need to agree that God is ever ready. He is the one that is waiting for us all this while. How is that? God has all things in his hands. All of those plans are ready for execution. However, the only thing that is holding them from us is us.
Before God executes his perfect plan, he always looks for a human agent who is ready to step up as a partner. As soon as he or she agrees to run with Him, spiritual awakening; revival; signs and wonders; miracles; divine power and glory will be released into the earth realm. Human agents are the key factors. We are the cause of the delay. We get to decide divine timing manifest on earth!
The Hebrew concept of waiting is, Qavah. It means to be gathered for a purpose. I like to use elite soldiers who were chosen for the SEAL Team members as my illustration. Once they were selected, all the chosen few were put in a special compound for an intensive program. They have to go through extreme training again, and again. The entire training and equipping process are part of the ‘waiting’ before they are deployed. They were ‘waiting’, gathered for a purpose. The purpose is to be sent out for a specific mission.
David was anointed 15 years earlier before he inherited the throne. During those fifteen years, he was shaped and moulded under different sorts of conditions and challenges. No prayers were answered to shorten the enthronement until the human agent entered into his maturity as God’s partner. And God knows when David was ready to be deployed.
If you have been waiting for a spiritual breakthrough after a long period, toil in prayers. Don’t give up because here are 5 keys to your deployments!
- Understanding your current condition is a vital part of your deployment. What is God working on you? Is it a character that God is preparing you for in the current season? God allowed David to go through 15 years of character shaping, and also to train him to be a king that could manifest God’s character. Character is the inner strength that would sustain the coming breakthrough in a new season!
- Receiving education and being equipped for your new role. What areas of equipping is God putting you through? Is it certain skill sets that you need to obtain before the breakthrough? Moses was educated, and equipped in Egypt during the early 40 years. He then was put in the desert for another 40 years to be equipped and educated. When he became skilled and content, God showed up and revealed the mission and assignment. Almost immediately, Moses was deployed.
- Stay in the game. Once God discloses the mission and assignment, he now entrusts you to get the job done. This is when you need to stay focused, be clear about the mission and stay in the game. Moses remained faithful for the next 40 years after he was deployed. King David ruled for 40 years. Elite SEAL Team members stay in the game forever until they are no longer able to serve due to injuries, promotions, or perhaps being killed in the mission. Once God deploys you, he expects you to remain loyal and stay in the game. The only person that can take you out is you.
- Set S.M.A.R.T. goal. One thing I noticed about God is, he allows you to set your own goals. But bear in mind, setting goals ought to be aligned with God-given mission and assignment. S.M.A.R.T. goal/s is meant to help you complete all that God had assigned you. It is your responsibility to apply wisdom as you work on these goals. I don’t intend to go in-depth on explaining the S.M.A.R.T. goal. You may follow the link for further study.
- Follow through, and stay focused. The hardest part in achieving goals is staying focused, the commitment and having the tenacity to follow through. A big chunk of it involves self-control and applying discipline. Here you are required to put in your 101% daily. A true test of character starts here. The majority of people soon dropped out. But the Scriptures promised that those who remain faithful until the end shall inherit the crown! So stay focused on your goals. One of the vital keys to keeping up with daily progress is to celebrate daily success. In intraday trading, my daily goal is to achieve a 1.5% profit return. So I celebrate my daily success knowing I’m making daily progress!
Now, it is important to stay focused during the waiting period. God is ready and he is waiting for you. So try your very best to get yourself ready, and not passively wait for him. Otherwise, both parties would end up achieving nothing! I hope you would find the five keys helpful.
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