AUGUST THEME – “Seeing Revival from God’s Perspective”
Join us in prayer and celebration as Belmont Baptist Church celebrates our Year of Jubilee, marking fifty years of God’s amazing faithfulness and looking forward with grateful hearts to all He has yet to do.
BEATS FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART’S
WAIT ON THE LORD — HE IS WORKING WHILE YOU WAIT
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.” — Psalm 27:14
Yesterday God told us, “Be still, and know that I am God.” But being still for a moment is one thing. Remaining still when nothing seems to change is another. What happens when you have surrendered the situation to God, stopped trying to control the outcome, prayed until you have no more words—and still the answer has not come? You wait. Waiting may be one of the hardest disciplines of faith because waiting exposes whether we really trust God’s timing or simply want God’s power on our schedule. David had prayed, fought battles, faced enemies, experienced disappointment, and endured seasons when God seemed silent. Yet he reached this conclusion: “Wait on the LORD.” Notice carefully: Scripture does not merely tell us to wait for an answer. It tells us to wait on the Lord. The answer may be delayed, but God is present while you wait.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: GOD MAY KEEP YOU WAITING FOR THE ANSWER SO YOU WILL LEARN TO REST IN THE ONE WHO HOLDS IT.
DELAY DOES NOT MEAN DENIAL
We often interpret God’s delays through our emotions. If He has not answered yet, we wonder whether He heard us. If the door has not opened, we wonder whether He has forgotten us. If circumstances have not changed, we begin questioning whether anything is happening. But throughout Scripture, God repeatedly made His people wait. Abraham waited for Isaac. Joseph waited through the pit, slavery, and prison before reaching the palace. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before God called him from the burning bush. David was anointed king long before he sat upon the throne. Lazarus lay in a grave because Jesus deliberately waited before arriving. In every case, God’s delay was not God’s absence. Sometimes God could answer immediately but chooses not to because He is doing something greater than answering the prayer—He is developing the person who prayed it.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: WHAT FEELS LIKE GOD HOLDING SOMETHING BACK MAY ACTUALLY BE GOD PREPARING SOMETHING GREATER.
GOD IS WORKING ON YOU WHILE YOU ARE WAITING ON HIM
We usually think the purpose of waiting is to change our circumstances. God often uses waiting to change us. Waiting exposes impatience. Waiting reveals unbelief. Waiting confronts our need for control. Waiting teaches dependence. Waiting deepens prayer. Waiting strips away substitutes until we discover whether God Himself is enough. You may be praying, “Lord, change this situation.” God may be saying, “I am—but first I am changing you.” Do not waste your waiting season by becoming bitter over what has not happened. Ask God what He is producing in you because it has not happened yet. The waiting room of God is often the workroom of God.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: SOMETIMES THE GREATEST ANSWER TO YOUR PRAYER IS THE PERSON YOU BECOME WHILE WAITING FOR IT.
DO NOT RUN AHEAD OF GOD
Waiting becomes dangerous when impatience convinces us to manufacture our own answer. Abraham and Sarah grew tired of waiting for God’s promise and attempted to accomplish God’s plan through human reasoning. The consequences followed them for years. We can do the same thing. We force doors God has not opened. We enter relationships God has not approved. We make financial decisions because we are tired of waiting. We say things God never told us to say. We abandon assignments because progress seems too slow. There is a dangerous prayer hidden inside impatience: “God, if You will not do it quickly enough, I will do it myself.” Be careful. A delay from God is better than a destination without God. Never become so desperate for an answer that you run ahead of the One who knows the way.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: IT IS BETTER TO WAIT WITH GOD THAN TO ARRIVE WITHOUT HIM.
“BE OF GOOD COURAGE”
David did not say waiting would be easy. He said, “Be of good courage.” Why would waiting require courage? Because while you wait, the enemy whispers: “Nothing is happening. God has forgotten you. It is too late. You missed your opportunity. Things will never change.” That is when courage must answer: “I do not know when God will move, but I know God is faithful.” Courage is not pretending you have no questions. Courage is trusting God while questions remain unanswered. Faith does not have to know WHEN when faith knows WHO.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: COURAGE IS TRUSTING GOD’S HEART WHEN YOU CANNOT TRACE GOD’S HAND.
“HE SHALL STRENGTHEN THINE HEART”
Perhaps you expected God to change the situation, but instead He strengthened you to walk through it. Do not underestimate that miracle. Sometimes we pray, “Lord, remove this,” and God answers, “I will strengthen you.” We pray, “Make this easier,” and God says, “I will make you stronger.” We pray, “Change what is around me,” and God begins changing what is within us. You may look at yourself today and wonder how you are still standing after everything you have carried. There is only one explanation: God has been strengthening your heart. The burden did not destroy you. The disappointment did not finish you. The unanswered prayer did not separate you from God. You are still here—still praying, still believing, still reaching toward Him. That is grace.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: SOMETIMES THE MIRACLE IS NOT THAT GOD REMOVED THE MOUNTAIN, BUT THAT THE MOUNTAIN DID NOT REMOVE YOUR FAITH.
A farmer plants seed into freshly prepared soil, and then he does something strange—he covers it up. For days he walks past the field and sees nothing. The ground looks exactly as it did yesterday. If he dug the seed up every morning to see whether it was working, he would destroy the very thing he was waiting to see. So the farmer waits. Rain falls. The sun warms the soil. Roots begin forming where nobody can see them. Then one morning, something green breaks through the ground. What looked like nothing happening was actually life developing beneath the surface. God often works that way. Just because you cannot see anything happening does not mean God is doing nothing. Do not dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: GOD DOES SOME OF HIS DEEPEST WORK WHERE HUMAN EYES CANNOT SEE IT.
GOD IS NEVER LATE
Our problem is that we measure God’s faithfulness by our clocks. God measures everything according to His purpose. We say, “It should have happened by now.” God says, “Trust Me.” We say, “I’m running out of time.” God says, “I created time.” We say, “It’s too late.” Jesus says, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” Ask Mary and Martha whether Jesus can arrive after everyone thinks it is too late and still be exactly on time. The stone may already be over the tomb. People may already be mourning. Everyone else may have concluded the story is finished. Then Jesus arrives. Never put a period where God may only have placed a comma.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: WHEN GOD APPEARS LATE TO YOU, HE MAY BE ARRIVING AT THE PERFECT MOMENT FOR HIS GLORY.
WAITING IS NOT WASTED WHEN YOU ARE WAITING ON GOD
Maybe today you are waiting for healing, restoration, direction, provision, reconciliation, a loved one to return to God, a door to open, or a prayer you have prayed for years. Do not allow the waiting to convince you that God has forgotten your address. He knows exactly where you are. You may not know what He is doing. You may not know when the answer will come. You may not even know whether His answer will look like the one you have imagined. But you know Who He is. So wait. Pray while you wait. Worship while you wait. Serve while you wait. Obey while you wait. Live while you wait. And when your heart becomes tired, remember the promise: “He shall strengthen thine heart.” God has not forgotten you. Something can be happening beneath the surface even when you cannot see it.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: WAITING ON GOD IS NEVER WASTED TIME WHEN GOD IS USING THE WAIT TO PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT COMES NEXT.
WARFARE PRAYER
Father, waiting is hard for me. I confess that I want answers quickly, doors opened immediately, circumstances changed now, and prayers answered according to my timetable. Forgive me for confusing Your delay with Your absence. Keep me from running ahead of You and manufacturing answers You have not provided. When the enemy whispers that nothing is happening, strengthen my heart to believe that You are working where I cannot see. Give me courage to wait without becoming bitter, impatient, discouraged, or unbelieving. Work in my circumstances, but even more, work in me. Make me stronger, deeper, humbler, and more dependent upon You. I surrender my timetable to Your perfect wisdom. I will wait on You because You have never stopped being faithful. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: I CAN SURRENDER MY CLOCK WHEN I TRUST THE HANDS THAT HOLD MY FUTURE.
DAILY CHALLENGE
Identify one prayer you are tired of waiting for God to answer. Instead of asking God again today, “When are You going to do this?” ask Him, “Lord, what are You trying to do in me while I wait?” Then write these words somewhere you will see them: I WILL NOT RUN AHEAD. I WILL NOT GIVE UP. I WILL NOT INTERPRET GOD’S SILENCE AS GOD’S ABSENCE. I WILL WAIT ON THE LORD. Do not dig up in doubt what you planted in faith. WAIT. GOD IS STILL WORKING.
PROFOUND THOUGHT: YOU MAY BE WAITING ON GOD—BUT GOD IS NOT WASTING YOUR WAIT.
FRIDAY’S PRAYER NEEDS
Mike Bryan
Anna Belle Taylor – Irregular Heartbeat – Jackson’s Special Friend
Britany Smith
Darlene Kelley – Our Cousin _ Recovering from Cancer
Darlene Thaxton
Deanne Boynton
Ginny Ford
Kim McClain’s Mother
Nancy Brown
Rob Davis – cancer