Do you ever have times when an idea, a concept, a thought, or a series of similar situations or stories with a common theme is presented to you within a short period of time? It is like God is trying to get your attention to make sure you understand Him.

Isaiah 41:10 reminds me of when God does that: “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (NKJV). It is like God is saying, “In case you didn’t get the ‘Fear not,’ let me say, ‘Be not dismayed.’ And if ‘I am with you’ doesn’t permeate your brain, let Me say, ‘I am Your God,’ and ‘I will strengthen you,’ and ‘I will help you,’ and ‘I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’” When He presents something to me repeatedly, it gets my attention.

It started yesterday.

1. Yesterday, a woman praying for a prodigal uncle wrote me: “I believe God has some specific things I am to pray about. … I heard the Lord say, ‘Don’t pick a fight.’ … I was about to engage in battle with what I thought I knew but by doing that would have picked a fight and perhaps created a new issue and made it worse. … I knew I had to wait for God to identify the real enemy and reveal the strategy I’m to follow. And it meant so much to me that God loves him, too, and cares [too] much about him to let me blindly fight.” That is powerful! God has a plan, and only God can reveal that plan. Everything else is a waste of your time and energy.
2. Last night a woman approached me and told me of some struggles she and her husband have been going through and how their discussion centered on the promises of God. She told him that any plan they could make on their own would be a waste of time.
3. Today (Thursday), a friend from a former neighborhood called and told me of the difficulties she is having. She is in a waiting period and is asking God to reveal His planned next step to her. She said, “I want to do His work, whatever that will be, and I tell Him that.”

While I was talking to her, I remembered Abraham and Sarah. God had given them a promise, but in their impatience they tried to create the promised son on their own through Sarah’s handmaiden. Of course, things did not go well.

I believe through these three women and the reminder of Abraham and Sarah the Lord is telling me to wait for something. He has been telling me a general theme for quite some time, something that is coming in my life, and it is something completely out of my experience and understanding as to how to accomplish on my own. He has not revealed how I am to get there. Instead, He gives me daily tasks and revelations. He is preparing me for what is to come.

Many of you have read Jeremiah 29:11. It says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God does indeed have a plan, a plan that He is waiting to reveal to you. He is not waiting to reveal it just so you will have to guess, take stabs in the dark, or try anything and everything until you find His plan. You simply have to ask and wait, because when the time is right, He will reveal it … to you. Let it be His job to make His direction clear, because He doesn’t want to be confusing—1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.”

His Word promises:

• “I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel” (Isaiah 45:3).
• Jesus says in John 16:13, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”
• “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).
• “He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:22)

He wants you to know!

So, while you wait to know His plan, use your waiting room time to prepare for what is to come by:

• Getting closer to God.
• Praying until you know your personal promise.
• Practicing hearing His voice. Remember the times His voice has been so very clear to you. Remember how you felt when you knew exactly what you were supposed to do and how you felt when you knew exactly what not to do, and remember to compare what you are hearing to the Word of God, because God’s voice will never contradict His Word.
• Praising Him because of His great names and attributes—for who He is. Praise is not a manipulation, but a weapon God has given us to fight the mind games of Satan. Praise until you internalize that it is God alone that provides, is all-wise God and all-powerful God, or any other attribute or name of God; or praise Him using a psalm as a basis. Praise Him until you know Him and what He will or will not do.
• Remembering His great love for you.
• Asking God every day what, if anything, you are to do that day that will put you closer to the promise. If you do not get clear direction, go about your normal to-do list.
• Asking Him to reveal what to pray. He will most certainly tell you. He wants us to “stand in the gap” and build conduits between heaven and earth so His perfect will can be done. He chose prayer to include us.
• Following this directive: “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

God does have a plan for you. He also has a plan for your prodigal and knows your part in His plan. This time in the waiting room is a time of preparation for what is to come. Cherish it. Wallow in the closeness of God. Ask Him to create a special time between you and Him in prayer, and enjoy your time with Him.

Do not forge ahead without clear direction. Wait, and let the peace of Christ rule your heart (Colossians 3:15). Otherwise, precious time and resources will be wasted, peace and rest will be inhibited, and your faith could take a hit when nothing happens as a result of your efforts. God knows what is coming and how best to make it happen. Instead of standing in His way or causing something against His plan, wait.

But when direction does come and comes clearly, GO! It is time! And watch God’s plan unfold in the beautiful way only He can create!