Waiting

Last Sunday I took a walk and prayed that God would allow us to hear something from the ministry this week. As it turns out that wasn't to be. So, we wait. I thought I would share some great passages from the Bible about waiting here...both for you and me.

• But it is wrong to say God doesn’t listen, to say the Almighty isn’t concerned. You say you can’t see him, but he will bring justice if you will only wait. (Job 35:13-14)
• Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. (Ps. 27:13-14)
• He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. (Ps. 37:6-7)
• When you came down long ago, you did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked! For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him! (Isaiah 64:3-4)
• We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope[a] for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. (Romans 8:24-26)

Finally, when I think about waiting on God the first things that generally comes to mind is an old song we used to sing in church when I was a kid...Isaiah 40:31...and I think of it just like we sang it. It's stuck with me all of these years: "they that wait upon the Lord, will renew their strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." I just never can recall the way the song ends!

Here's that same passage, in context, from The Message:

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
"God has lost track of me.
He doesn't care what happens to me"?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
they walk and don't lag behind.

I'm incredibly strengthened and encouraged through these verses...through God's Word to us. Waiting is not easy...no doubt about that. Sometimes we think it's the worst. But incredibly, it's sometimes during the wait that we most vividly see our Father working in and around us...I guess because it's during those times that we're forced to live beyond ourselves, in His strength.