Isaiah 40:31 (AMPC) “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.”
The illustration I was taught that stuck with me the most was waiting in the doctor’s office. Sickness can cause you to lose strength, be weary and faint. The text above likens us to eagles, as it does many times in the Bible. When eagles eat something poisonous, or something that makes them sick, they go to the highest rock and lay themselves flat (spread eagle) and allow the sun to soak the bad out of them. We need to learn from the eagle and spread ourselves prostrate before God when we are sick; waiting to receive a healing touch from the Son.
One day I was waiting in the doctor’s office to have an annual physical because of a new insurance carrier. A Coast Guardsman was also waiting and struck up a conversation with me. He said, “Do you see this book? I started it this morning at another clinic and have almost finished it waiting in three doctor’s offices.” It was almost 4:00 p.m. and he had been waiting in different offices since 8:00 a.m. that morning. What a waste of time for a valuable serviceman.
Several people I know have heard from God as to what their ailment was and He also gave them the answer without seeing a physician. One friend was suffering with allergies and the Lord spoke to her quietly one day to stop dairy products. She obeyed the Spirit of God and no longer suffered from those allergies.
Another friend had gone from doctor to doctor, bought different expensive medication and did not get any better. One day she was driving and crying out to the Lord for help. He spoke so sweetly to her that she was in menopause. She went to a natural health store and bought inexpensive natural supplements and improved greatly.
These are modern-day examples of one of my favorite New Testament miracles. Luke 8:43-48 tells us, “Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not get healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped. And Jesus said, ‘Who touched me?’ When all denied it, Peter and those with Him said, ‘Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, Who touched Me?’ But Jesus said, ‘Someone touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.’ Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And Jesus said to her, ‘Daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
Mark 5:25-34 tells the same story, but speaks of the outcome of the doctors as told in verse 26, “and had suffered many things from many physicians. She had spent all that she had and no better, but rather grew worse.” I think Luke the physician was trying to be kind to his professional colleagues.’
Most Christians prove by their actions that they have more trust in doctors than they do in the Lord Jesus. They wait for hours in a doctor’s waiting room, followed most of the time by a long wait in the examining room, after which they hang on every word the doctor says as if he had the final answer.
How do they know if the doctor did not cheat on his exams? How do they know that possibly his mind is on the fight he just had with his wife or the malpractice suit he is involved in? No, they do what he says; fast when he tells them to fast, take pills that they do not know the long-term effects it will have on their body, expose themselves to hideous medical procedures, etc. Yet, if the Spirit of the Lord reveals the need to fast, they ignore His instructions and do their own thing.
God instituted a fast in the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. (Ex. 12:15-20; 13:3-10; Lev. 23:6-8; Num. 28:17-25; Deut. 16:3,4,8) They were to have no leaven (yeast) in their homes for a week. Nutritional doctors have proven that the fast of yeast in your body is good and will eliminate the cause of yeast infection and many allergies. Our Father God, who make us, knows what is best for us and knew this when He ordered the leaven fast in the first place. In the wilderness they were healthy because they ate what He said was good for them.
You will take time out of your working agenda and your employers will honor the needed time from work. But you will no schedule a space or duration to hear from God when He is your Creator. You may say, “I don’t have time to pray”, but you will take up to six hours out of your busy schedule to wait on the doctor.
One of the reasons it is hard to pray and wait on the Lord is because praying is spiritual. There is an opposite spiritual force that is doing everything possible to keep you out of the presence of God. The enemy does not care how much time or money you spend with doctors and medicine, but he gets very involved when you spend time with God because prayer is where the power comes into your life.
The scriptures show very plainly several times that the devil is your problem. Acts 10:38 tells us, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” In John 10:10 Jesus teaches us “The thief comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
In the Old Testament people always blamed good and bad on God, not knowing that they had an enemy. They believed that everything that happened to them was consequences of what they did or what God was doing. Most of them only knew His acts, but those who knew God and spent time with Him knew His ways, what pleases Him, how He works, or His love. Psalm 103:7 tells us, “He made know His ways to Moses and His acts to the children of Israel.”
THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE
What do you do while you wait in the doctor’s office? You are aware of the need for an answer so you are listening for your name to be called and remembering all symptoms, etc. If you are having a problem with allergies, the doctor asks you to remember everything you have done, everything you have eaten and record them. Most diet plans succeed if the dieter records all he (she) has eaten, how they felt at the time, and time they ate. Remembering is a very big key to success in many areas.
Ecclesiastes 12:1 says, “Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them.'” Solomon advised us to make sure of our relationship with God while we were still young, before the evils of this life harden our hearts and we cannot hear God anymore.
Remembering God, thinking of Him and His goodness, remembering all He has done for you in the past keeps your heart soft and pliable. Then and only then can He work with you to carry out His plan in your life.
THE COURT ROOM
Several times in my prayer time, as I have gone into the time of waiting, I have sensed I have been in different waiting room or periods. One time I was in prayer after a week of neglect of quiet time with Him. In the quiet I sensed I was in a waiting room outside a court room, knowing I was guilty.
As I waited I remembered all the opportunities I had to be with the Lord, but went on doing what I thought was important or what I wanted to do. In the morning I had been rushed because of the load of the day, so I pressed into my day to get a head start on the tasks to make sure I got them all done. Then at the end of the day I was exhausted and wanted to unwind watching television.
I was remembering all these things during my waiting period of the one hour of prayer schedule. Needless to say, I was very ashamed of myself and felt great remorse. The next section of the hour is confession and I confessed this great sin of omission. Most people think that sin is only committing an act, murder, swearing, adultery, lying, cheating, etc., but the sins of omission would be not praying, not reading the Bible, not uniting with other believers, etc.
As I got into the courtroom and the Judge (God) asked “How do you plead?” All the while, the prosecutor, the accuser of the brethren (Satan) was accusing me. I turned to Jesus (my Advocate, defense attorney) and confessed my sin and asked for forgiveness according to I John 1:9. Jesus then turned to the Judge and said, “Mary is not guilty, she pleads the Blood.”
That time of waiting and confession brought me into the realization of how our Bible is a whole book of law. God the Judge (Genesis 18:25), Satan the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) and Jesus Christ our Advocate (I John 2:1). Covenant, testament, laws, redemption, plead, rights, privileges, adoption privileges, consequences are all legal terms. The best teaching on this subject is found in Billye Brim’s book on the Blood and the Glory. The chapter that deals with this issue is called “Pleading Our Case:Redeemed By The Blood”.
I felt secure in my forgiveness, not because of what I have done or not done, but because of what Jesus had already done for me. He has removed the curse which was attached to the Law and left the blessings.
Galatians 3:13-14 reveals our deliverance, “Christ has redeemed up from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’, that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
THE SECRET PLACE
During another prayer time I had the sense during the waiting period of waiting for a lover. The lovers had met at that same spot every day and then for a week one did not show up. I was the neglectful lover, and when I came into the time of waiting I wondered if my lover (Jesus) would show up or would I have to search for Him with all my heart according to Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”
In the prayer segment that followed waiting, I confessed my unfaithfulness and God was so merciful to me to forgive me. I immediately felt the presence of God. Even if you are a prodigal son such as the parable in Luke 15:11-32 our Father is waiting and will rush to greet you with open arms when you turn back to Him. Instead of days of depression or hours of prayer. I confessed and immediately received the flooding of His love.
THE COUNSELOR’S OFFICE
When you need counsel in a matter, first wait on the Lord and meditate on Him being the best counselor you could ever get BEFORE you seek help from a marriage counselor, lawyer, psychiatrist, debt counselor, etc. There is nothing wrong with any of these, but as a Christian our first counsel should always be from God. Then follow directions as to what doctor or pathway of healing you should take.
Smith Wigglesworth made a bold statement, “I can see that the ministry of healing is going to get more difficult. It is always more difficult when you have to contend with unbelief. There are already too many remedies in which people put their trust. But I can see that it will get worse, until it will be hard to get people to believe at all. We have become such a drug-conscious society that, in many cases, the aspirin bottle is more important than the anointing bottle.”[1]
Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Jesus encouraged His disciples as recorded in the gospel of John 14:6, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever.” (AMP) What a wonderful promise from Jesus!
[1] Albert Hibbert, Smith Wigglesworth, The Secret of His Power, 18th Printing (Tulsa, Harrison House) 90-91
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