When it comes to your decision making, have you ever used the phrase, “I’m waiting on God?”
It’s not a terrible phrase to use, but it can often mean something that I think is unhelpful.
Still, we see it mentioned in the Bible quite often:
“Wait for the Lord. Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14).
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
This year I’ve really been working on daily progress towards goals. But in the back of my mind I’ve been thinking, “Shouldn’t I just be waiting on God? Am I doing what he wants me to do?”
Another factor is that I don’t want to live my life for the praise of my own name. I don’t want my life to merely be a testament to my hard work. I want to invest my life in the things that only God can do. That way, He gets all the credit.
A verse like Ephesians 2:8-10 is a great reminder:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
But this verse reminds us of a reality: we are saved by grace to work. To take action. We’re not off the hook. But the foundation of our work is the finished work of Christ. In the end, we can’t boast in ourselves because the foundation of our work is Christ’s finished work.
The Action of Waiting
Waiting on God is not an inactive place. It’s a life posture where good works continue to happen. Sometimes you don’t receive an answer from God until you leap.
Sometimes there is no open door or clear path. You have to take daily action and wait on God daily. It’s not one or the other.
I’ve also found that I never make progress on goals when I periodically “check in.”
I’ve been writing songs more than I ever have before. I took part in a 6 week challenge with a handful of friends and the goal was to write one song a week for 6 weeks. Every Friday I had to send in what I worked on.
It reminded me that skill acquisition is less about talent and more about consistency. It’s about showing up. At the beginning, coming up with ideas was hard. Why? Because I hadn’t been writing. I hadn’t been stretching that muscle. I wasn’t allowing bad ideas to create a path for the best ideas. I was stagnant. But as I stretched that songwriting muscle, it flowed easier.
As Stephen Pressfield says:
“The true professional doesn’t wait for inspiration. He works in anticipation of it.”
I’m also hard on work on my first online course, set for an August release. The best times on this journey were when I committed to accomplish something for the course every day. Even if it was just sending an email to someone on my team. Or editing a video. Or setting up an interview. I needed to take a single action before I went to bed.
The more I shipped, the more I increased my capacity to ship. The more work I did, the better the work became.
No Days Off
This can apply to any area of life that you want to see massive progress.
What am I doing to be a better husband to my wife today? No days off.
What am I doing to love Jesus more today? No days off.
What am I doing to be an amazing Father to my kids? No days off.
What am I doing to be a better worship leader? No days off.
Where do I feel stuck today? What small step can I take to work my way out? No days off.
It comes down to being intentional with your time and thinking strategically about your life. Michael Hyatt has said how funny it is how much time we invest into planning our next vacation and how little time we invest in planning our lives. It’s the strategic life planners – those who are intentional about where they’re headed – who become successful.
Show me what you do daily and I’ll show you where you’re headed. I’m not sure who said that but it’s true. It’s your daily action that creates your future.
Sure, you can’t do everything every day. There aren’t enough hours in the day. But there have to be non negotiables. What are you going to work on every day?
As you press into God every day, as you listen to his voice, what action are you taking? What good works are you releasing into the world?
[ois skin=”Beyond Sunday 2″]
Thank you so much for this! As a Worship Leader in transition and wondering what’s next for us, this breathed life into a very stagnant time in my life. With so much “free time” I feel my creativity drowning under the lack of knowing what’s next. This was exactly what I needed to hear today. Thank you.
This is a really good write-up. It’s a timely reminder to myself.