Devotions with Pastor Michael De Haan

In our prayers, we will often go through moments when we are waiting on God. You know the moments. It’s when you send your request, but there is no immediate reply. God feels silent, or he closes doors making you wonder even more what is going on. Sometimes you wait and wait. For days, weeks, months, even years.

When my wife and I moved to Topeka, we moved into a rental property so we could take some time to buy a house. When we finally started looking for a house, we looked and looked. We placed offer after offer, only to have our offers rejected or outbid by another buyer. We looked at dozens of properties. It felt like every house we looked at, someone else got before us. We prayed and prayed, knowing that God had the right home for us at the right time. But each time the house we felt might be the one slipped away, we got a little more frustrated. How long did we need to wait on God?

What I’ve learned over time is that the best thing we can do while we’re waiting for God, is to worship Him. While we wait, we worship. God is worthy of our worship, and loves it when we praise Him. When we turn our hearts in gratitude toward him, God is delighted. In Jeremiah 29 we read: “In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13). Another way of translating the Hebrew phrase “If you look for me wholeheartedly,” could be “if you worship me.” See when we pray and worship God, God listens and can be found. It’s one of the amazing characteristics of God that I love.

Eventually, after waiting and worshiping God, a door was opened. Amber and I found a house and have made it our home in Topeka. And it was far better than any other house we looked at. So this week, while you’re waiting on God to open a door for you, worship Him.

Pastor Michael