Am I Waiting on God… or Avoiding Action?

Am I really waiting on God... or am I using "waiting" to avoid taking the next step?

Waiting on God is biblical. Abraham waited. David waited. Joseph waited. Even the disciples were told to wait. But there's a difference between trusting God's timing and hiding behind spiritual-sounding excuses.

In this episode of Bible, Basically, we explore how to tell the difference between faithful waiting and fear disguised as patience. Through the stories of Joshua, Abraham, Nehemiah, and Jesus' teaching, we'll discover that God often doesn't reveal the whole path. He simply asks us to take the next faithful step.

If you've been praying for clarity, waiting for a sign, or wondering whether it's finally time to move, this episode is for you.

Figuring out faith, together.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Hey everybody, welcome back to Bible Basically, where we are figuring out faith together. I have said the past couple weeks, I want to continue along with this same thought process and series of everyday topics, things that help us in our day-to-day. Last week we talked about how how do I pray? And the Bible gave us a great example of how we pray in the Lord's Prayer. If you haven't listened to that episode, give it a listen. It is fantastic. If you've ever wondered how to more effectively communicate with God, it really is simple. It's a lot more simple than you think it is. Give that one a listen. Today, today I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about a topic that is it's it's gonna touch some of you. It's gonna it's gonna really hit home with somebody, hit it home with me, which is why we're talking about it. But okay, so the title of the episode, you you know by now, is Am I Waiting on God or Avoiding Action? And so I'd like to oversimplify it and say it's about procrastination, but it's not about procrastination of your day-to-day tasks. Okay. This is this is decisions. This is, you know, I'm praying about it. I'm not gonna do it until I hear a sign from God, that kind of thing. And uh, we've all done it. You know, you're you're going to make a big decision in your life, whether it be to get married or to have kids or to buy a house or to buy a car, or and you're like, well, I'm gonna pray about it and I'm gonna see what God tells me. And then are you really waiting, or are you just avoiding doing it because you don't want to pull the trigger? Okay. So, I mean, you think about it. How many times have you guys said these words? I'm just waiting on God. Maybe you're applying for a job or waiting to start a ministry, whether it be, you know, singing in church or I don't know, a podcast. You're waiting to apologize to somebody or forgive someone who's hurt you, or maybe you're waiting to take your faith faith seriously. I've heard that one a lot. Or you're waiting to make a change that you've known for months or years that God has been pressing on your heart that you have to do. And maybe your reasons sound incredibly spiritual. I'm praying about it. I'm waiting for peace, I'm waiting for God to open the door, or I'm waiting for a sign. Some people like to attribute it to the universe. I'm waiting for the universe to give me a sign. Look, before we go any further, I want to make something perfectly clear. Waiting on God is absolutely biblical. Some of the greatest heroes in the Bible spent years waiting. Okay. Abraham waited decades for the son that God promised. Joseph waited in prison before becoming second in command over Egypt. David was anointed king long before he ever actually sat on the throne. Israel waited hundreds of years for the Messiah. The disciples waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus instructed. Waiting isn't a lack of faith. Sometimes. Waiting is faith. Sometimes. But here's the question that I want to wrestle around with today. How do you know the difference between faithfully waiting on God and using I'm waiting on God as an excuse to avoid doing something he's already asked you to do? Because those two things are frighteningly similar. One is trust and the other is fear. One's obedience, the other is procrastination, dressed up in church clothes. And if we're not careful, we can get them confused. So, like I said, waiting can be a biblical principle. Okay, so let's start with what scripture actually says about waiting. Psalms 27, 14. Wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord. David doesn't say waiting is positive. Notice the words. Be strong, take courage. Biblical waiting isn't sitting on the couch hoping life magically changes. It's active trust. It's continuing to obey while trusting God's timing instead of your own. Waiting takes courage because it forces us to surrender that control that we love to have in our lives. It forces us to surrender that to God. And most of us don't like that. We like plans, we like deadlines and roadmaps. And God usually gives us something different. He gives us himself. And if you understand how perfect he is, that is more than enough. But it's a difficult concept that a lot of us have a problem grasping. Waiting doesn't mean doing nothing. Sometimes we picture waiting like standing in line at the DMV. You grab a number, you sit down. You don't do anything until your number's called. That's not how waiting works in scripture. When a farmer plants a seed, he waits. But he doesn't stop working. He waters and weeds and watches. He prepares for the harvest. See, the waiting isn't passive, it's purposeful. David knew this. Psalm 37:7, he says, Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices. Notice something, being still doesn't mean being inactive. It means refusing to force what only God can accomplish. It means don't panic. Don't look around and see how well everybody else is doing and feel like you have to make rash decisions to catch up. Resist that comparison. Resist the temptation to run ahead of God simply because someone else seems to be moving faster. See, real biblical waiting isn't laziness, it's trust. But because we're human, because we're just people, we screw it up and we get into trouble. And sometimes we say that we're waiting when what we're really doing is avoiding. Because avoiding can sound incredibly spiritual. I just need another confirmation. I need another sign. I just I need to pray about it a little longer. Or I don't feel ready, or I don't have enough peace. Now look, hear me out. There are absolutely moments when we should slow down and seek wisdom. I am not saying rush headlong into anything. But there are also moments when we are asking God questions that he already answered. Think about it. Have you ever prayed, Lord, should I forgive them? Well, Jesus pretty much answered that question. Have you ever prayed, God? Should I love my neighbor? I know you've never said it that way, ever. But take that and apply it to your personal life. Take that to somebody who did you wrong. Take that to someone you don't know who needs something and you have it and you're willing to part with it. Should I give it to them? God already answered those questions. Should I care for the poor? Should I encourage another believer? Should I encourage another believer? Should I give my testimony to this person? Sometimes we are asking God to reveal something new while ignoring what he's already revealed. And that's where James gives us one of the most convincing passages in the New Testament. James 1, 22 through 25 says, but be doers of the word and not hearers only. I'm going to repeat that again. It's longer, but I like that part. But be doers of the word and not hearers only. Deceiving yourselves. Oh, he tacked on a little something there. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer, but forgets, but a doer who acts. So, in other words, you're not a hearer who forgets, but you are a doer who acts. He will be blessed in his doing. I'm going to read that again because I stumbled up. I'm going to read that part. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts. He will be blessed in his doing. Don't just listen to God's words, do something about it. See, this is challenging because James says there's a difference between just hearing God's word and acting on it. You see, I was guilty of this. It is possible to know Scripture, to study Scripture, even agree with Scripture while never actually obeying it. That was my whole life. I grew up in the church. I heard everything. I knew all the songs, but I didn't do anything about it. And I kept procrastinating and giving excuses until one day I gave up and I walked away. I kept waiting for God to give me instructions when he had given me all the instruction that he already needed to give me. I just needed to listen and do it. So here's a question worth asking ourselves. Am I waiting for God to give me new instructions when I haven't obeyed the last ones that he already gave me? Think about that in your life. Sometimes the next step isn't hidden. It's just so hard we don't want to do it. So how do we know the difference? How do we know whether we are genuinely waiting on God's timing or whether fear has quietly disguised itself as patience? And to answer that, we're going to look at one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament because it teaches us something that most of us completely miss. God often doesn't reveal the miracle until his people take the first step. So we all look at Joshua and Abraham and what it means to walk by faith instead of waiting for certainty. They didn't wait, they acted. And here's where I think so many of us get stuck. We think that we are waiting on God, but what we're really waiting for is certainty. We want God to show us the entire plan before we take the first step. We want every question answered, every obstacle removed, every fear eliminated, every detail explained. But when you read the Bible, that's almost never how God works. In fact, more often than not, God gives people enough light just for the next step, not the next 50. Faith has never been about seeing the whole staircase. It's about trusting God enough to take the next step, even when you can't exactly see where it leads. And one of the clearest examples of this is Joshua chapter 3. We're going to talk about Joshua and the Jordan River. The Israelites have finally reached the Promised Land, but there's only one problem. The Jordan River is overflowing its banks. There are no bridges, no boats, and no obvious ways across. So, of course, this is where God parts the river and the guys go safely through and everybody's happy, right? No. Listen very carefully to what God tells Joshua. Joshua 3, 13. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap. Did you catch that? The river didn't actually stop until they took the first step. Do you imagine being one of those priests? You're carrying the Ark of the Covenant. You know what Indiana Jones worked so hard to find? You're walking toward a flooded river and the water hasn't moved. And you're looking around at Joshua like, yeah, we just got these sandals. So I don't know if I wanna, you know, at the moment you have a choice. Do you trust what you see, or do you trust what God said? Now listen to what happened next. Joshua 3, verse 15 through 17. And as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water, the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away. At Adam, the city that is beside Zarathon, and forgive me, I butchered that name. And those flowing down towards the seas of Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off, and the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan. Notice the miracle there, okay? Notice the order. First, take the step, then the miracle, then continued obedience and provision. Faith, then sight. How often do we pray? God, show me the miracle first, and then I'll step. Yeah, of course, once again, you don't say it that way. But you think it, that is what your message conveys. God, show me the way, and then I'll go.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

But God often says, start to go. Then you'll see what I can do.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

Joshua wasn't the only one. Our good friend in the Bible, Abraham. God certainly did not hand him a detailed itinerary. He simply said, Go. Genesis 12, 1 through 4 says, Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all of the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram went. And as the Lord had told him.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

He just said, Go on, get.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

I want you to leave everything you know. Your family, your country, the home that you grew up in. And I want you to go to the land that I will show you. Didn't even know where. I will show you. So God didn't tell him the exact destination, didn't say how long he'd be traveling for, didn't say every challenge along the way. He just said, go. And Abraham did it. In Hebrews, they reflect on that moment centuries later. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. Hebrews 11 8. He went out not knowing where he was going. He just left. That doesn't sound like certainty to me. That sounds like trust. God often gives us a compass. He's like, go that way. And we are begging him for GPS coordinates. God, I don't want you to just tell me to go that way. I want you to tell me where my destination is, and I will evaluate if I am going to go. We live in an age of GPS, man. Type in an address, and you know every turn before you leave your driveway. Sometimes we expect God to work the same way. Lord, show me every turn, every obstacle, every conversation, every outcome. Then maybe I'll go. But God rarely hands out spiritual GPS. Directions. Instead, he gives us something much better. His presence. Think about what he told Moses. Not, I'll explain every single detail to you. But no, in Exodus 33, 14, we hear the Lord say, and he said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Notice the promise. God didn't promise Moses complete understanding. He promised himself. And once again, we need to understand that that's enough. So if waiting isn't about certainty, what is it? And if fear can disguise itself as patience, how do we recognize it? Now we're going to look at Nehemiah, the parable of the parable of the talents. And one of the most uncomfortable truths in the scripture, uh, sometimes the greatest obstacle to obedience isn't a lack of direction, it's fear. Once again, I said this earlier. Most of the time we don't call it fear. We call it, I'm still praying about it, or, you know, the timing just doesn't feel right. Or I'm waiting for peace. You know, I don't think God's made it quite clear enough yet. And sometimes those things are absolutely true. But sometimes, if we're really honest with ourselves, we're just scared. We're scared we're going to fail or that people are going to judge us. We're afraid we'll make the wrong decision, afraid we'll look stupid. Fear has a way of disguising itself as wisdom. And the Bible has a lot to say about that. One of my favorite examples of this is Nehemiah. When he learned that Jerusalem's walls had been destroyed, his first response wasn't action, it was prayer. He mourned and he fasted and he sought God. Prayer came first, but prayer wasn't the finish line. See, eventually God opened a door. And Nehemiah stood before King Artaxerex. You know what? I'm going to challenge y'all to pronounce this word. King Artaxerex Artaxerxes. A-R-T-A-X-E-R-X-E-S. R-taxerx. Yep, that guy. And he asked for permission to rebuild Jerusalem. He asked, I'm going to call him Artex. Anybody who has ever seen Never Ending Story knows what I'm referring to. I'm going to say he stood before Artex and asked for permission to rebuild Jerusalem. The king said yes. Then Nehemiah traveled to Jerusalem, surveyed the damage, gathered the people, and got to work. And listened to what he tells the people. Nehemiah 2, 17 and 18 says, Then I said to him, You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Let us build the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer suffer derision. And I told them the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words of the king, Artex, that had spoken to me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for the good work. Notice the pattern. Pray. Trust. Then build. Nehemiah didn't choose between prayer and action. Prayer fueled his action. And sometimes we think prayer is the alternative to obedience. It's not. Prayer prepares us to obey.

SPEAKER_01 28:30

Think about that. Your prayers are a preparation for your actions.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

I know we're jumping around a lot. But the Bible talks about this more than you think it does. There's so many different spots in the Bible where people waited. There's so many examples of prayer before action and righteous action. Jesus tells us a story that should make every single one of us pause. And it's found in Matthew chapter 25. A master gives three servants different amounts of money called talents. Two servants invest in what they've been given. One servant buries his in the ground. And when the master returns, he asks each servant to give an account. Listen to carefully, listen carefully to what the third servant says. Matthew 25, 24, and 25. He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid. And I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours. So why didn't he invest? Why didn't he move forward? It's because he was scared. He wanted to play it safe. He didn't want to lose it. So he wanted to play it safe.

SPEAKER_01 30:41

And he buried it. And gave it right back to his master.

SPEAKER_00 30:51

He didn't forget, he didn't get distracted. He wasn't like, I was waiting for the perfect opportunity. He was scared. Fear convinced him that doing nothing was safer than being a faithful risk. How often do we do that? God gives us something, opportunities, relationships, resources, a challenge, a chance to encourage somebody or serve, a chance to share our faith. And instead of using what He's entrusted to us, we bury it. Not because we don't care, but because we're afraid. One of the biggest misconceptions about following Jesus is that if you're in God's will, you'll always feel confident.

unknown 31:54

Ha!

SPEAKER_00 31:58

That's just not what we see in scripture. Think about Moses, I can't speak. What about Jeremiah? I'm too young. Gideon, I'm the least. Peter, if it's really you. Almost every single person that God called had questions. Most of them were scared. Some even argued with him, but they did it anyway. Courage, true courage, is not the absence of fear. It is choosing obedience in spite of fear. See, Paul writes to Timothy, he's a young pastor who struggled with fear and timidity. Second Timothy one, seven. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Notice Paul didn't tell Timothy, hey man, never feel afraid. Don't do that. He reminds him that fear doesn't have to be in charge. In James 2, verse 17. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Wait, what? So when we fear to move, we lack the faith to press on. James isn't saying that we're saved by our works. Bible's clear, we're saved by grace. We talked about this over and over and over again. What James is saying is this real faith changes the way we live. If I say I trust God, but I don't obey him, I have to ask myself a really difficult question. If I don't obey him, do I really trust him? Faith isn't proven by what we believe in our minds. It is revealed by how we live. So maybe the question isn't, am I waiting on God? Maybe the better question is, is fear keeping me from taking the next step that God has already made clear? Because sometimes the obstacle isn't confusion, it's comfort. It's easier to stay where we are rather than risk obedience. But Jesus never called his followers to comfortable faith. He called them to faithful obedience.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

All right.

SPEAKER_00 35:37

We're slowing the train down here. Coming to our destination. So, how do we put all this into practice? How do we do this? How do we know when it's time to wait and when it's time to move? So, we're going to walk through a practical framework of how to do this so that you can use this in your own life, along with one question that has challenged me more than any other. What is the last thing God clearly asked me to do? And have I done it? So, how do you know the difference? First of all, talked about biblical waiting, we talked about fear, obedience. But maybe you're thinking, okay, that's great, but how do I actually know if I'm waiting on God or just avoiding action? And I think there are a few questions we can ask ourselves, not to condemn ourselves, but to examine our hearts. And the first one is this Has God already spoken about this in the Bible, in his word? If the answer is yes, you probably don't need another sign. You just need to obey it. If scripture clearly tells us to forgive, to love or serve, or encourage, or be generous, or make disciples, then we don't need to wait for another confirmation of that. You just do it. You just obey. God already has spoken. And the second question is: am I waiting because I trust God or because I'm afraid? And those can feel frighteningly similar, but they're not the same. Waiting trusts God's timing. Fear delays obedience. And the third question is: what is the next faithful step? Notice I didn't say what's the entire plan. Just what is the next step? Because that's how God leads. Proverbs gives us the answer. Proverbs. One of the most quoted passages in the Bible is Proverbs 3. But I think we often miss what it's really saying. Proverbs 3, verse 5 and 6. You're going to say it. You can read it aloud with me if you want. Trust in the Lord, your trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. But notice what Solomon doesn't say there. He doesn't say understand everything first. He says, Trust. God's guidance isn't built on your ability to predict the future, it's built on his faithfulness. Sometimes obedience comes before understanding. The Bible's not going to tell you what job to take or what house to buy or what college to go to or whether to move across the country. These things require wisdom. And that's why James gives us this incredible promise. James 1:5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach. And it will be given him. I love that verse. God's not mad when you ask for wisdom. He gives it to you generously. So yeah, for sure, pray. Seek wise counsel. Search the scriptures. Take your time when scripture hasn't spoken directly. But don't confuse seeking wisdom with avoiding obedience. Those are not the same thing. As I was prepping for this episode, one question kept coming back to me. Honestly, it's been challenging me all week. If Jesus walked into your living room tonight and asked, What's the last thing I clearly asked you to do?

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Do you know what that would be?

SPEAKER_00 40:06

I can tell you with all honesty, when my if my wife asked me that question, even if I knew it two seconds ago, the moment she asks, it completely leaves my brain. If Jesus were to ask me, what's the last thing I clearly asked you to do, would I have an answer? And if you do remember, here's the harder question: Did you do it? Maybe it's forgiving someone or making a phone call that you've been avoiding. Serving at your church, finally opening your Bible consistently, apologizing, asking for help, sharing your faith with someone you've been praying for. Maybe it's taking that first step that you've been putting off because you're waiting for certainty. Whatever it is, don't let fear wear a name tag that says faith.

SPEAKER_01 41:08

Because they are very different. So I'm going to challenge you with something this week.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

I don't want you to ask God for ten new things. I want you to ask him one question. Lord, what is the next faithful step? Not the next ten, not the not the whole pass. It's just the next singular step. And when he brings something to mind, take it. It might be uncomfortable, it might stretch your faith, might even scare the heck out of you. Remember, Josh, Josh, we're on that kind of basis. Joshua had to step into the river before it parted. Abraham had to leave before he even knew where he was going. Nehemiah had to start building before the wall was even finished. Peter had to step out of the boat before he knew the water would hold him up. Throughout Scripture, God doesn't usually reward perfect certainty. He honors faithful obedience. Waiting on God is one of the most beautiful expressions of faith. But waiting isn't the same as standing still forever. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take the next step God has already placed in front of you. Not because you know how everything's going to turn out, but because you know the one who is asking you to trust him. Maybe you've been waiting on God to write the entire story. And all he's asking you to do is turn the page. So this week, do not wait for perfect clarity. Do not wait until every fear disappears. Do not wait until every question is answered. Take the next faithful step. Because following Jesus has never been about having all the answers. It's always been about trusting the one who does. Guys, thank you so much for listening to Bible basically. Once again, if this episode encouraged or challenged you, would you share it with someone who's been wrestling with a big decision? It might be exactly the conversation they need to hear. And next time, we're going to tackle another question almost every Christian has asked at some point. How do I really know it's God's voice? All right, y'all.

SPEAKER_01 44:11

Till then, let's keep figuring out faith together.