Watching and waiting are both biblical commands, but they are not quite the same thing. Waiting is when there is nothing left to do but trust and remain faithful for God to act in his timing.
Watching, however, includes an element of warning others about what God is doing. Like a “watchman” on the wall, he’s not just waiting to see what happens. Rather, he’s watching to see what happens so he can warn those he’s been charged to warn.
For example, in Ezekiel 3:17 it states, “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.”
Here are 3 signs God is telling you to just watch what he does.
1. If You Knew What God Told You to Do, and Then You Did It, God Is Saying, “Just Watch What I Do”
People will mock you when you actually follow Jesus with all your heart. Even if they don’t verbally ridicule you, you will sense their disapproval when you make sacrifices for God that don’t make sense to their worldly minds. To this, the Lord says, “Just watch what I do for the godly.”
Obedience does not unlock God’s favor because we are earning rewards through our good works. Rather, when we obey God, it is like we are opening our hands and saying yes to our Heavenly Father. He always wants to give us what is best for us, but he waits until we are willing to receive his gifts.
Likewise, when we disobey God, it’s not that we are cutting ourselves off from his favor because we ruined our chance to earn it. His grace is sufficient and he always forgives when we repent (Romans 5:20). Rather, when we disobey and refuse to repent, we are running from our Heavenly Father and thus removing ourselves from the lavish love he wants to bestow on us.
So when God tells you to do something, and then you actually obey him, all you will need to do from that point on is to watch in faith. He will take your obedience and multiply it into greater blessings than you can imagine (Ephesians 3:20-21).
2. If You Remain Faithful Even Though Your Desire Seems Impossible, God Is Saying, “Just Watch What I Do”
When Job was suffering, he didn’t understand why. He had been faithful and he loved God. His suffering made no sense from an earthly perspective. Job 2:9-10 states:
Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.’ But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
When all seems hopeless, God calls his people to remain hopeful. When the world is telling you to give up, God calls you to remain faithful.
- “What? You still aren’t having sex before marriage? Why?”
- “If God was listening, he would have answered your prayer already. Why don’t you just take matters into your hands?”
- “Why are you tithing? You can’t pay your bills as is? Don’t be a fool. You can’t afford to be generous right now!”
To these doubts, God calls us to watch. In the end, the world will see that we were right to keep trusting the Lord.
As Proverbs 8:34-36, “Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”
3. If Your Ultimate Joy Is Rooted in Christ, God Is Saying, “Just Watch What I Do”
If you desire marriage, God gave you that desire (1 Corinthians 7:7). If you want to have children one day, God gave you that calling (Genesis 1:28). If you have a passion to use your gift to serve the Lord, God gave you that passion (1 Peter 4:10). But above all these other blessings, God blesses us with a desire for him (Psalm 27:4).
When we choose these lesser blessings over God, we usually don’t get these blessings anyways and we miss out on experiencing the love only God can give. However, when we love God with all of our hearts, usually God also blesses us with these other blessings too and, most importantly, we will receive all the goodness God wants to give us through his love. As Proverbs 37:3-6 explains:
Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”
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