But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31; King James Version)
Waiting...ugh. I hate to wait.
It is such a nuisance, such an inconvenience.
We live in a "now" world.
We have an "express lane, fast food, pay-at-the-pump" mindset, and we justify it with the idea that our time is valuable.
But the truth of the matter is, valuable or not - our time is God's.
So, there it is in Isaiah 40. The statement,
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength..."
Read also in Psalm 27:19 where it more directly commands us,
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
There is no getting around it, no matter how desperate we are for answers, no matter how helpless we long for relief, no matter how much agony we endure - there are times that God expects us to just wait for Him. And waiting, despite our impatience and our dislike for it, is a vital element of a growing life in Christ. The ability to wait on the Lord stems from being confident and focused on who God is and in what God is doing. It means that we place our security in His wisdom, love, timing, and understanding of our situation. It means knowing and trusting His principles, promises, purpose, and power.
But let's face it, waiting is not easily.
So, as frustrating as it may be, let's step outside ourselves and try to expand our perspective to His higher vantage point...
This is the same Almighty, All-Knowing, All-Powerful God who created time itself. He has worked out the events of this world down to the very second.
While we scurry about on the surface of the earth thinking only of ourselves, we rarely consider that God oversees the orbit of the planets around the sun.
He created this world to spin at a particular pace while exactly positioning us in the proper location of our solar system.
He oversees the rising of the sun everyday and the dawning of the moon each night.
Our days, months, years and the activities within these moments are all because He gave them to us and sovereignly reigns.
Every heartbeat, every breath - we callously take for granted our next beat, our next exhale.
Yes, this is the God who brings us color, taste, light, water, variety.
He offers us beautiful seasons with times to plant and times to harvest.
He oversees all weather and soil conditions to bring forth food that sustains all creatures.
He knows the number of hairs on our head, sands on the earth, stars in the sky.
Yes, this is the God who tells us to wait upon Him.
He is a good God.
A God that has thought through every detail of our life, and the lives of every creature that has lived - past, present and future.
So, His call to wait should not be dictated by our selfish questioning and inconvenient moment of discomfort, but rather based upon the hope of a perfect Creator’s character and faithfulness to see His plan through until the end of days.
Spurgeon wrote,
"Call upon God, and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid. In dilemmas between one duty and another, it is sweet to be humble as a child, and wait with simplicity of soul upon the Lord. It is sure to be well with us when we feel and know our own folly, and are heartily willing to be guided by the will of God. But wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him; for unfaithful, untrusting waiting, is but an insult to the Lord. Wait in quiet patience, not rebelling because you are under the affliction, but blessing your God for it. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses; never wish you could go back to the world again, but accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, 'Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities, but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in the full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower.'"
Waiting is a time that God wants us to seek Him. To do this, waiting means we must make time to study God's Word (seeking answers and claiming His promises); we must make time to pray about our issue (praying for discernment, clarity and wisdom); and we must make time to meditate further on who God is (getting to know Him as best we can). Included in this process might be our need to examine and evaluate our own motives and attitudes, our values and priorities, and our goals and objectives in life. By waiting and bringing everything before God in prayer and humility, we are taking the correct steps to actually be still and know God. We are to trust Him and stay on course to follow His perfect plan. We are to wait for His perfect timing to come. The exercise is intended for us to be drawn closer to the Savior, renewing the strength of our faith by stretching us to trust Him more, seeking only His will, His Way.
Ladies, remember when you must wait on God for answers (a husband, a child, a job, a dream, a direction, a change - whatever....), remember that God is always faithful and at work for your good. He is in control of EVERYTHING. Don't give into Satan's deceiving whispers that God might have forgotten you, or that He doesn't care, or that He isn't interested in listening to your desperate prayers. That is simply not true. If it were, God would not have bothered to give you life to begin with.
"To us, waiting is wasting. To God, waiting is working." (Lou Giglio)
We must always remember that God is trustworthy and hears our prayers.
He will act on our behalf and do what is best for us - but in His timing and for His planned purpose.
We must trust His promises.
We must trust His character.
We must trust His faithfulness, especially when we don't see Him.
We must always believe His Word.
We must establish our foundation on His good truth and nothing else.
Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see. (William Newton Clarke)
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. (Psalm 130:5-6)
Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said, "Child, you must wait!"
"Wait?', you say, wait!," my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By FAITH I have asked, and am claiming your word."
"My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs into the balance, and you tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign."
"And Lord, you promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!"
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, "You must wait."
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting. . . for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And he tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want . . but, you wouldn't know ME."
"You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see."
"You'd never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give, and I save... (for a start),
But you'd not know the depth of the love in my heart."
"The glow of my comfort late into the night.
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have LAST."
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes, your dreams for your loved ones overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss! If I lost what I'm doing in you!"
(Author Unknown)
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."
Ladies, let's renew our strength and be still in our Master's presence.
Let's pause as long as He requires, and take comfort that Jesus is Lord.
Praise Him as you remain close to His heart via His Word
He is with you through every storm, and through every drought.
Wait, and put your hope in His promises when He is silent.
He is capable and will bring solutions in His time.
So, just wait and trust He, who is Most High.
All glory and praise belong to our Lord Jesus Christ. Who was, and is, and is to come. Hallelujah!
Blessings!
~Victoria
© The Devoted Woman | Victoria Anderson
