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The Bliss of Waiting and Abiding by
Bobby Conner
EaglesView Ministries
The Lifestyle
of Waiting
The Lord
Jesus spoke to me in a very strong tone, stating, “When it
comes to seeking ME, I detest multitasking!” We cannot develop
this ability to hear from the Lord unless we first learn to
wait upon the Lord (Isaiah 40:31)).
This
“waiting” must be experienced in times set apart in which we
are alone with Him (Psalms 46:10-11). These set-apart-times
must have a place within our daily life experience. Our
seeking is not haphazard or hit and miss: it must be a
lifestyle (Psalms 27:8)! The true seeking of God is a
continuous seeking. It has to do with the position or attitude
of our spirit being lifted toward the Lord. Our heart must be
attentive to His Presence and our ears must be open to His
voice. We must continuously live in an attitude of worshipful
listening, hearing and heeding the direction of God’s Spirit.
A yielded life is essential.
And he sought
God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the
visions of God; and as long as he sought the Lord, God made
him to prosper. II Chronicles 26:5
The Spirit of
Truth is seeking hungry-hearted saints who are desperate to
hear and heed the voice of God, wholly following the Lamb of
God—those who personally know Him and have received an
understanding of His ways (1 Cor.2:6-7). We only come to
maturity by personally knowing Him. And how do we come to know
Him? By spending time with Him in His Presence our entire life
takes on new vibrant outlook (2 Cor.3:18).
We must pay
close attention to nourishing our soul, making sure our
spirit-man is not anemic and malnourished. How do we do this?
By continually abiding in the Wisdom and guidance of the Word
of God! God does promise that if we seek Him, great will be
our reward.
I love those
who love me,
And those who seek me diligently will find
me.
Riches and honor are with me,
Enduring riches and
righteousness.
My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine
gold,
And my revenue than choice silver.
I traverse the
way of righteousness,
In the midst of the paths of
justice,
That I may cause those who love me to inherit
wealth,
That I may fill their treasuries. Proverbs 8:17-
21
How to Wait
upon the Lord
It is
imperative that we learn how to better surrender to the Spirit
of God and how to be directed by His Spirit. Our being guided
by the Spirit means that we have developed an appreciation and
respect for His Presence. This begins by meditating in the
Scriptures so that we may convey true revelation of the Word
of God to those who seek to know Him. When I am studying the
Scriptures, I seek to allow the Word to enter into me and me
into the Word. I see myself within the setting of the event
unfolding in the pages of the Word of God (Hebrews
4:12).
Guidance by
the Spirit without words is the result of an active
relationship with Jesus, in which His Presence abides within
us and we abide in Him, “knowing” His Spirit through the deep
inner perception of our spirit.
I will
instruct you and teach you in the way in which you shall go: I
will guide you with My eye. Psalm 32:8
There are two
aspects to our waiting on the Lord.
The first has
to do with our withdrawal from all activity. Through this
separation unto God, we enter into a consciousness of His
Presence. This consciousness can be described as an attitude
of anticipation and worship. So the first step in beginning a
true seeking of God is for us to set aside time in which we
quietly wait to hear His knock upon the door of our spirit.
The enemy of our soul will also be knocking, however. Remember
this is a very important point: the devil will always attempt
to distract you with thoughts, to turn your mind away from
things above (Col. 3:5).
The second
aspect of our waiting on the Lord is learning how to
continuously abide in His Presence no matter the activity at
hand. This continuous abiding hinges on the first experience
of withdrawal:
Whether
therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31
It is
possible for us to be separated unto God, “shut in” with the
Lord, in the midst of activity (Matthew 6:6). This will take
time, as it does not come easily, or at once. The devil—the
foe of your soul—will attempt to steal your intimacy with
Jesus. He will distract and disturb you anyway he can with the
goal of disrupting your seeking God.
This higher
level of relationship begins with our entering our set-apart
place and then waiting on the Lord during specific times,
times which are set aside for this purpose. Then we can carry
His Presence out with us to abide in all that we do.
Never forget:
true prayer is an audience with the KING!
Assure Your
Heart of His Presence
It is
reported concerning the early disciples that they were
ignorant and untrained; however, it was evident that they had
been with Jesus (Acts 4:13).
Reassure your
heart that God is “omnipresent.” He is always with you,
attentive to your every thought and feeling. Consider Jeremiah
23:24:
Can any hide
himself in secret places that I shall not see him, says the
Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth? Says the
Lord.
We can
encourage ourselves with the fact that the Lord is present, no
matter how we may feel. This is a tremendous truth and will
greatly help us—once it captures our heart. Our remaining
conscious of the fact of His Presence as we wait on the Lord
is like recharging a battery: it is a renewing process of His
life flowing into our lives, a joining of our spirit with the
Lord through faith. His Presence will gradually become our
delight.
Another way
to understand this is that we, being a branch, are to draw the
life of the vine into our spirit.
I am the
vine, you are the branches: He that abides in Me, and I in
him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without Me you can
do nothing. John 15:5
As our mind
is renewed by waiting on the Lord, it is brought closer to His
mind—and we come to understand His ways. Consider I
Corinthians 2:16: “...But we have the mind of Christ.” This
truth is worked into our spirit as we spend time in the Lord’s
Presence, waiting upon Him.
Be Determined
to Wait
The only way
for us to enter this relationship of His abiding Presence is
to begin waiting upon the Lord on a regular basis, with a
determination not to stop until we have met with and supped
with Him.
And be not
conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the
renewing of your mind... Romans 12:2
As we seek
first the kingdom of God, the blessings and overwhelming
benefits of God flood our lives (Matthew 6:33). The
overwhelming bliss and joy of a soul prospering in the favor
of God is a noble quest. A truth we must grasp is money and
material things do not bring lasting satisfaction and joy of
soul.
As we become
relentless determine not to stop, as we meet and sup with him,
both our waiting and our abiding in His Presence will become
our highest joy (Psalms 16:11)!
Bobby
Conner
EaglesView Ministries
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