Have you waited for something and it took longer than you thought it should for an answer?

• You expected the baby to arrive, but it took hours of labor.
• You were told a promotion was on the way, but weeks later, you were still waiting.
• A gift was coming in the mail, but you had to wait.

Proverbs 13:12 AMP Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.

Any time hope is delayed it makes the heart sick.

When you keep on waiting and nothing happens, it can start to wear you down. It costs when you anticipate something is going to happen and it doesn’t. Waiting wears you down.

It costs more to wait with anticipation for an answer than it does to want nothing.

That is why many people stop wanting anything. Sometimes it is easier to not want than to wait. If you have no expectation of God doing something in your life, you will not be disappointed. Some people find it easier to give up. Just let things happen the way they happen. There is an Italian phrase that addresses this, quei — che — serà — serà  (What will be, will be!).

You can’t be disappointed when you have no expectation.

When your heart is filled with expectation, you begin investing something.

Matthew 25, gives the parable of ten virgins.

This is a story of those who were anticipating the coming of the bridegroom. They were all filled with excited expectation. They were waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom. While they waited they burned oil in their lamps. Five of them had brought extra oil, but five only brought what was in their lamp. As they waited all of their lamps began to go out.

Anytime you have a hope to get up, to go higher, to go forward, to move on in God, to move on in life, it is going to cost you something.

While they were waiting on the bridegroom to come, they were burning oil. Nothing was happening while they were burning oil. While they waited for hours and hours, they were burning oil.

Some of you don’t understand why you are so tired right now.

Here is a fact you cannot afford to miss. As soon as you started hoping for an answer, you started burning oil. I remember this happening when I was a child. I had spent a long time with my grandparents on the farm. They told me that my parents were going to be coming to get me any day that week. I remember standing at the window watching every car that came down the dirt road. This one came, and then another, but it was not mom and dad. All day I waited, and nothing happened. The sun went down and finally grandma said, “It is time to go to bed.” My heart was so filled with expectation that I had trouble going to sleep. The next day was much the same. I became weary in waiting.

As soon as you start hoping, you start burning oil.

When you start believing that something is about to happen, you start burning oil. The oil is burning. You have to burn some oil to be able to wait.

Isaiah 40:31 NKJV But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

You have to be tough to wait. Waiting tries your faith. You heard that something good is going to happen, but then you had to wait.

Have you gone through a tough time in your life and you were waiting on a breakthrough to come?

You may not have the answer, but you want it. You may not have it in your hand but you are reaching for it.

The truth is, you are waiting in expectation for something better.

My history is not my destiny. Do you have a dream and a hope for things to improve? Do you still have a passion and goal? You have been looking and waiting. You say it’s late, but I’m still waiting. I’m older, but I’m still waiting. I’ve had some setbacks, but I’m still waiting.

The sun was going down, and I saw some lights far off in the distance. They passed the crossroad and kept coming toward my grand parents house. Pretty soon I heard a sound. It was the sound of the horn on my parents’ car.

When you first start out waiting, you are optimistic.

You say: “It will be here in a minute.” I have to keep everything ready. You have to keep your hope and faith up.

Jesus said they had to keep their garments spotless and without wrinkle.

The longer you wait, the harder it is to keep your hope and faith.

They have waiting rooms in hospitals for those who wait. Have you ever spent much time there? Have you noticed they don’t have beds in waiting rooms? When you wait long enough you can make a bed out of any old chair. Have you waited long enough that you knew everyone else who was waiting?

Sometimes we get weary waiting on the Lord.

Matthew 25:5 KJV While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.

While they were waiting, the Bridegroom was slow in coming.

While they were waiting, they began to get tired. Have you ever asked God for something and you had to wait? They were waiting and became tired. They were looking for something to happen, but they became tired.

Do you know what it is like to be tired?

You are trying to hold your head up, but it keeps falling over. You try to keep your eyes open, but you are tired. You are trying to keep on watching and waiting, but you are tired.

One by one, they all went to sleep.

It wasn’t just the foolish that went to sleep. It does not matter how smart you are, you still get tired. Even the most determined still get tired. Regardless of how focused or committed you are, you still get tired.

I remember waiting at that window sill until my head was heavy and my eyes could not stay open.

Do you know what tired is?

You go to bed tired and you wake up tired. You go through your day tired. You eat your lunch tired. You answer the phone tired. You try to do your work tired. When you get tired, it is hard to keep watching and praying. When I get tired, it’s hard to go on. I’m a real nice person, until I get tired.

Have you ever got tired?

It is possible to be close to receiving what God has promised and feel like you don’t have what it takes to bring it in. While they were waiting, they fell asleep. They did not plan on falling asleep, but waiting for the answer to come takes a toll.

It cost you so much to get ready for something good, that when the good thing happens, you don’t have the strength to enjoy it.

I have a sister-in-law that loves to cook. She prepares wonderful meals. Often she gets so tired preparing for the banquet that when the meal is served, she does not feel like eating. She served everybody else, but didn’t feel like eating.

It COST SOMETHING to get where you’re trying to go.

• It costs something to build your family.
• It costs something to change your life.
• It costs something to survive your past.
• It costs to win your lost family.
• It costs.

While they were waiting, their lamps were burning. While they slept, their lamps were burning. To get where you want to go you have to expend energy.

The foolish virgins became tired, and they used up all of their resources. They were burned out when it was time to go out.

When the answer was at the door, they did not have the resources to do anything.

Their bodies are tired and their garments are wrinkled. Their hair is messed up and their oil was depleted. The Bridegroom hasn’t come and their oil is still burning.

Do you know what it is like to have nothing left to give?

They thought they had more time than they had. They reached a point when they lost perspective. They had to refuel before they would be ready for His coming.

Matthew 25:6 NKJV “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’

The Bridegroom coming is not a bad thing.

It is a good thing when the Lord comes with healing and blessing. Many times the blessing happens when it doesn’t look like it could. When it looks like there is no way in the world for it to happen, God opens the windows of heaven and comes down.

When it looked like they were not ready, the cry was made: “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming!”

This is good news for you. The thing you have been waiting on, and praying for, and working on is about to happen. The Lord is concerned if you are going to be ready to receive the blessing that He is about to give.

Don’t give up now!

This is your time and your season for the blessing. “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming!”

The thing that you have been looking for is closer than you thought. God wants you to get ready! God is about to do what He said He would do! Don’t quit, the Lord is coming with the answer you need.

In Isaiah 37:3 Hezekiah said: “This is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace… for the children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver.”

God has promised and what He has said is going to happen. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, what He said He will also do, (2 peter 3:9).

You need to hear this message, “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming!”

The thing you have been waiting for is coming. How you react to challenges tells whether you are wise or foolish. You will know who you are in the hour of your challenge. “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming, go out and meet Him.” At the moment of the midnight cry, they realized their lamp was out of oil. I planned on having on light to go, but I didn’t have enough oil to wait. You need to replenish the oil of faith and the oil of the Holy Spirit. You need to strengthen what is required to be able to go out and meet Him. 

You do not want to have to say, I don’t have anything left.

You need to be refilled and restored today. You need more of God’s strength to go on. You are tired and you need to be given new life. Your faith and trust in God needs to be renewed.

God is going to do what He said He will do! Get ready for the Bridegroom is coming with your answer.