Oak Hill Church of Christ 7-14-24 Message: "The Weight of Waiting"

Oak Hill Church of Christ preaching minister, Randy Sterling, delivers a message on the value of patience when waiting for God to provide opportunities.

Many years ago, there were a series of television advertisements extolling the virtues of being a driver. "Don't be a passenger, be a driver" was more or less how it went. The valued attribute lay in taking charge, making decisions, and being active instead of passive.

However, that is not always what God wants from His people. Yes, God wants us to take action and be courageous, but He also wants us to develop patience, whereby we learn how to understand that God has asked us to wait.

In the New Testament, we have a record of very brave men heading out into the world to spread the Gospel. God does want brave men courageously venturing out to spread the truth. But, for these men, the destination they had chosen was not the one that God had in mind. He had a different location for them.

Sometimes, we might find ourselves frustrated with what we see as God's forestalling of our mighty plans. "How could God prevent my righteous goals?" "Doesn't God know I'm trying to serve Him with this great idea I have?" "Why does God prevent me from doing something so obviously good?"

The Bible instructs that God's plans are superior to ours, for God can see not only the past, but the future as well. For those of us who are feeling our great and mighty plans forestalled by God, it could be that God has an even better destination in mind, and our duty is to develop the patience to wait until He provides us with that new path.