Yesterday I was at the 10 item express check out and there was a "check writer". No fault of his but his check jammed up the machine and I kid you not.... The check out lady proceeded to bang on the top and side of the machine. Didn't work. The wait was agonizing as the line of "10 items or less shoppers" piled up behind me. I just wanted to leave. I really don't like to wait.
However... there is a kind of waiting that I'm getting better at.
Isaiah said in chapter 40:28-31 tells us that to "those who wait on the Lord" He will "renew their strength". Now that gets me thinking. If I'm lousy at waiting in lines at HEB when I'm buying milk and bread, what makes me think I'll do any better waiting around for the Lord. When you wait at HEB you can see the progress of the line, but with the Lord you literally have to wait in faith. We don't know the mind of God or His timing. Waiting on the Lord to renew our strength may mean that we will have to be weak for a while. It might mean we will not see immdeiate results of our waiting. Consider the people of Israel as they wandered through the dessert, or Noah's family as they waited for that bird to fly back, or the disciples who labored to start the early churches, or the missionaries in Ecuador who waited over 30 years before violent villagers repented and turned to Jesus. What do I know about waiting?? And yet, I can think of many times I have set quietly before the Lord and he instantly offers me peace, answers to problems and even supernatural results. And other times I've had to wait, and wait, and wait. Only to find that the results weren't what I had planned. The promise to waiting is not that we always get what we want. The promise is that He will give us the strength that we need.
For example, sometimes we wait for healing and it comes quickly. Sometimes the healing, like that of Sierra, is greeted us as we cross over into eternal life and receive our great reward in heaven. My friends the Fedelem's are a testimony to waiting. For 3 years they waited with grace and perseverance that is seldom seen today, but God chose to bring their precious Sierra home. They will take comfort in Isaiah's words when he says; "those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up on wings of eagles, they shall want and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." I'm convinced that this promise is to Jason and Rosetta in this life, and for Seirra in the life she now lives. Their strength will be renewed and they will run this race and not grow weary as they look to Him. Sierra was taken up to her eternal home on the wings of angels where she walks and runs, sings and shouts, and looks upon the One who saved her... and in heaven she will never grow weary. We have all been blessed by this family and their godly waiting.
Are you ready to wait on the Lord my friends. Wait on Him to heal you, tend to your daily needs, restore your marriage, raise your children, comfort your grief, and guide your every step. I believe waiting is a discipline that we must nurture and strive for. We must diligently wait on the Lord to renew our strength... in His timing. Let the words of the Psalmist bring your comfort and encouragement today as you rise up and seek His face and wait on Him. (Psalm 130:5-6)
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
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