Charles F. Stanley - Waiting on God: Strength for Today and Hope for Tomorrow

Howard Books

A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2015 by Charles Stanley

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (TLB) or The Living Bible are taken from The Living Bible (Kenneth N. Taylor; Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1997, 1971 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.)

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, Copyright 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (NKJV) taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Howard Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Howard Books hardcover edition January 2015

HOWARD and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Interior design by Renato Stanisic

Jacket design by Hampton Creative

Cover photo by Corey Lack Pictures

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Stanley, Charles F.

Waiting on God : strength for today and hope for tomorrow / Charles F. Stanley.

pagescm

Includes bibliographical references.

1.Trust in GodChristianity.2.Expectation (Psychology)Religious aspectsChristianity.3.Waiting (Philosophy).I.Title.

BV4637.S733 2015

248.4dc23

2014034969

ISBN 978-1-4767-9403-7

ISBN 978-1-4767-9407-5 (ebook)

T O ALL WHO WAIT

THAT YOU WILL TAKE HEART AND CONTINUE TO TRUST THE O NE WHO NEVER FAILS.

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and let your heart take courage;
yes, wait for the LORD.

Psalm 27:1

A Look at the Long Road

Never .

It is the word that can stir the deepest fear in the bravest heart. Never.

Ill never find a job.

This will never get better.

Ill never be respected.

She will never respond to me.

Ill never get married.

Ill never have the child I long for.

He will never come home to me.

Its the lie that originates with our sinful natureit insists on putting a decisive end to all our hopes. Dont bother to dream , it whispers cruelly. You dont deserve it. Stop wishing for what can never be .

And so we continue to drive the nails into the coffin of our dearest longings.

The Lord will never answer my prayers.

But this is the challenge of waiting on God. Its the ability to keep hoping when the nevers of life bombard uswhen the minutes and hours, days and years, tick away without any answers to our most passionate pleas at the throne of grace. Its the faith to hang on to the Father on the long road, when human reason tells us to give up.

If the nevers of life are discouraging you, if youve waited for the Lord to fulfill His promises to you, if you wonder why God has allowed such a lengthy delay in answering the deepest cries of your heartif this is where you are, friendthen this is the right book for you. There is meaning and hope in these times of waiting on the Lord to respond. Though you dont see Him working, you can know for certain that He is because He guarantees that He acts on behalf of the one who waits for Him (Isa. 64:4).

Not only that, but the Father has an awesome plan for youpurposes that are fantastic, perfectly suited for you, and that will give ultimate meaning to your life. However, God also has a very specific scheduleone that is often vastly different from what youd expect. One that may have you wait far beyond what makes you comfortable. One that will most likely make you feel that all earthly hope is gone so that you will rely solely upon Him (2 Cor. 1:9).

The only never you should focus on is that God will never let you down.

What I intend to show you throughout these pages is that the only never you should focus on is that God will never let you down (Deut. 31:6, 8). So whatever it is you yearn forno matter how long you have to waityou can trust the Father to lead you and know for absolute certain that He has your very best interests in mind. The key for you is to remember Whom it is that youre really anticipating.

That was certainly the case for my grandfather, George Washington Stanley. The first time I ever heard him preach was when I was nine years oldand to me, he looked like Moses because he seemed so very old and wise. He was tall, lanky, and he would get completely fired up whenever he proclaimed the gospel. I had no doubt thats what he was created to do. But I was surprised to discover that there was a time when he truly doubted he would ever be able to serve God.

You see, although Granddad knew the Lord had called him, churches in the area wouldnt allow him to fill their pulpits. One after another, they rejected him, causing him to doubt the calling he had received. Likewise, he felt very inadequate because he didnt have much education. In fact, he learned to read by studying the Bible. And he picked up how to preach by crying out to God and asking Him what to say.

A long time passed for Granddad with no open doors. One night, he became so distraught that he fell down on his knees on an unpaved road and cried out, God, this seems impossible! If Youre really calling me to preach and Youre going to show me what to do, I need some evidence. Please, let me see a star fall. So he looked up and just about that time, one shot across the night sky like a blazing arrow.

But it wasnt enough. He was desperatehis fears went deep, the pressures overwhelming, and the memories of rejection were too real. So he said, Lord, please, just one more time. Would You let me see one more falling star? Just to be sure? Again he looked up. And again, a bright light rocketed across the celestial expanse.

He had his confirmation, but he still did not have a pulpit from which to speak. So he kept seeking God. After a time, the Lord showed him he could hold his revival meetings in a tent as others had done. So he did what any of us would dohe got a job to earn money so he could buy one.

Without much in the way of schooling and no training, he did the work that was available, which was as a tie hackersomeone who cut railroad ties for the local lines. He would chop down the trees, trim them to size, and earn twenty cents for each eight-foot tie he created, which was only a few each day.

There was a saying back thenand it was certainly truethat hacking ties was a hard way to serve the Lord, even for turn-of-the-century laborers who were accustomed to putting their backs into their work. But my grandfather persevered, asking God to help him and staying open to His direction.