Lesson 19: Being Filled with the Holy Spirit (part 2)

Read: John 16:5-15- www.bible.com/bible/59/joh.16.esv

As we said in the last lesson, waiting on God is an important part of being filled with Him. Let's look again at the first mention of waiting in Scripture. We find it in Genesis 49:18 where Jacob is blessing his sons before he dies. In the middle of his blessing for his sons is this beautiful verse, "for your salvation I wait, oh Lord." For all the years Joseph had been gone Jacob had been waiting, though he didn't realize he was waiting to see his beloved son. Now he had been reunited with Joseph, he was blessing his sons with all God would provide for them, and the only thing left for him to wait for was the salvation of his old body – the fulfillment of God's promise to bring him into His presence at the moment of death. What an incredible picture of waiting. On one hand the sons wait for the father to bless them, and on the other the father waits for his eternal blessing.

Another Old Testament figure who learned how to wait was Job. Job had suffered the loss of everything he had, including his children, with no apparent reason from God for this loss. Yet, in all his suffering he never quit waiting for God to either tell him why or to reinstate His blessings. Despite the misguided advice of friends, Job refused to blame God, refused to grow impatient, refused to seize control of his own life, refused to become angry with God. He waited for God. He did not, however, wait silently before God; he kept talking with Him. Only when God approached him and showed him the immensity of His own being did Job wait silently before God (see Job 40:3-5). The rest of this chapter as well as the next shows God giving Job an intensive theology lesson. Job's response in Chapter 42 is repentance for his pride, and restoration. From Job we learn waiting for God may not necessarily be a pleasant wait, but it is always a profitable wait.


Writers of the Psalms teach us of waiting for God. In Psalm 25:5 David says he waits all day long. In Psalm 62:5 he says he waits in silence. In Psalm 119:74 we find the reward for waiting is joy, and in 130:5 the reward is hope. Psalm 27:14 shows us waiting gives our heart courage. In Psalm 37:7 David reminds us about the patience required for waiting. Hosea 12:6 tells us we must wait continually for God.

Waiting for God, however, is for more than just the filling of the Holy Spirit. We must also understand waiting is a way of life as long as we are here on earth. We wait for the salvation – the glorification – of our bodies. We wait for the moment when we will hear the trumpet sounding – our bodies will be changed, our eyes will be opened, and we will rise in the air to meet our Lord in the clouds.

Waiting for God does not mean inactivity, however. We must continue to do the work God has sent us to do while we wait. Yes, there will be times when we wait on our knees before God in silence – waiting for Him to speak to us, waiting for Him to still our hearts in conflict, waiting until our hearts desire His will (Philippians 3:20). Before you ever pray for patience, learn first to wait on Him (James 5:7).

*In your waiting on God, how patient are you today?