Christian Living
Recently I was meditating on the following scripture …
"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." Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV)
A few months ago, I was sitting on a plane heading for a short term missions trip to Kenya. I was filled
with excitement and expectation as to what the Lord would do. So I boarded the plane and then,
we were informed that our departure would be delayed - for over an hour! So we just sat there
… waiting. I asked the Lord, “What lesson can I learn from this moment even as I just sit
here?”
I was not moving, just sitting there … waiting. I wondered. Could it be that in many of life’s
situations our best course of action is to pause, to simply stop, take a deep breath (or two) and
realize that the universe doesn’t revolve or turn on our difficulty or on our discomfort being
relieved. But it does turn on the Lord’s power, on His will, and on His love. And all of those
things truly are worth waiting for.
In so many situations we seek to have our pain relieved or eased (a natural and normal reaction).
And yet one of the blessings of “waiting on the Lord” is that we learn that pain is eased not only
by it being taken away but by it no longer being seen as the center of the universe. Since the
center of "the" universe doesn’t turn on our struggles then neither should the center of "our" universe
turn on them either. As I was writing, the plane started moving – the time of waiting or standing
still was over. Truth is, deep down, I knew it would. I never thought I would be sitting on that
runway for ever – that would be silly. Yet we embrace that thinking in our life situations all the
time. We get so impatient with waiting we miss a key purpose of waiting – to change our focus!
Unfortunately ... many don’t get better or calmer when they wait. Instead they become more
frustrated and desperate regarding the thing for which they are waiting. But that is the key. We
are encouraged to wait on the Lord, not on the thing we are waiting for. Perhaps your frustration
has increased as you have been waiting because you have been waiting for a thing, or a person to
change or whatever. That kind of waiting often disappoints. But truly waiting on the Lord
never does.
If after months, or even years, of waiting for something you have grown sour or hopeless, then
you have not been waiting on the Lord. Waiting on Jesus brings hope! Waiting on Him brings
strength! Waiting on Him brings joy! If your “waiting time” has eaten away at your hope and
resolve then I must ask, “What was the center of your universe, your life, while you were
waiting?” If your waiting time has lessened you in any way, then your focus was on something
that could never deliver happiness and peace anyway.
This passage encourages us to “wait on the Lord” for a reason. It’s not just about the “waiting”
part but the “on the Lord” piece is vital. Why? Well, some runways in life are quite long.
Some you can sit on for what feels like an eternity. But this promise is not an empty one nor is
that time wasted – not if you are truly waiting on the Lord. Time with Him is never wasted. It
always produces something precious and long lasting. It builds and further bonds your
relationship with the Master and helps you grow in leaning on and trusting in Him more deeply.
We did take off – not only to fly but to soar. Below is this same verse in The Message
translation of the bible:
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.
Waiting on Him actually helps us to not only get going but to soar! It strengthens us to walk and
be able to keep running when others have grown tired. And we are also given the precious
ability to walk and not lose ground, not lag behind. We all want to get where we are headed
towards or acquire than thing or situation we are waiting for. But you won’t get it waiting on it –
you are better off waiting on Jesus. You will get blessings beyond whatever the thing was able
to deliver. And gee … “fresh strength” sounds pretty good to me!
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