Thursday, February 26, 2015
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I had the opportunity some years ago to speak for some pilots organizations, and I've never piloted a plane. I'm always a passenger. But they wanted me to talk about peace and stress. And it was something I wrote a book about, so it worked out pretty well. In the process I met some guys who deal with FFA safety seminars. They told me some interesting things about what happens with some of the crashes that we might see in the news. They said that when a private pilot crashes, there's usually a study of that, and they start to compile case studies to help other pilots fly more safely.
I was told that one of the problems that causes a crash is something, well, their word was "get there-itis." It means you simply got to get to your destination no matter what. "Got to get there!" So, you push beyond the limits of safety. Maybe you think you can beat that storm, or put off the maintenance until we get back from your trip. Well, sadly, some never do.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Price of Not Waiting."
Our word for today from the Word of God begins in Psalm 37:5. "Commit your way to the Lord." "Your way" well, to me what does that mean? It's where I go, what I do, how I do it, and when I do it. "I'm giving all that to you today Lord." And then it says, "Trust in Him and He will do this. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." And then in verse 34, later it says, "Wait for the Lord and keep His way."
Now, if you've truly committed your way to the Lord; if you're really trusting Him to do what needs to be done, you'll be willing to wait. Did you get that word? Do you like that word? I don't. Wait. Someone said, "The hardest room in God's house to be in is the waiting room." I heard about a pastor who was pacing back and forth in his office. His secretary walked in. She said, "What's wrong?" He said, "I'm in a hurry and God isn't."
I think we all know that feeling. We know what we want. We know when we ought to have it, and we have a hard time waiting for God to do it in His time and in His way. So we end up with a delivery that's premature; not nearly as healthy as a full-term answer would be. The truth is, a lot of us are make-it-happen people, and we are afflicted with spiritual "get there-itis" and we're going to make it happen; goals that we have like a career goal, a financial goal, a marital goal, a goal for our children, a ministry goal. Sure we pray about it and we ask God for it. But when it seems like it's taking too long or it isn't going to happen we decide to give God a little help.
Well, there's our destination, so we take off after it before we should. It's called running ahead of God, usually because we think He's taking too long. We can't wait. That kind of impatience has probably been the cause of more God's will errors, more crashes in our lives, than anything else - impatience.
Maybe your loving Lord knows you're there right now. He sent this message today to be a bold, flashing sign that has four letters on it and they spell WAIT. Maybe you're tempted to run ahead of the Lord financially and get yourself in debt, a big debt. Maybe you're tempted to push your health farther than God intends or your agenda for getting a husband or a wife, your dreams for your career, even your vision for your ministry. Don't rush it! You'll ruin it.
Remember the words of the Bible, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." Look at all the crash sites of those who couldn't wait for God's timing. For the Scripture tells us "He makes everything beautiful in it's time." Get there-itis has already ruined too many people. No destination is worth risking a crash that could have been prevented by waiting.