WAITING as a MISSIONAL POSTURE: A 5-Day Journey Exploring the Role of Waiting in Missional Livingಮಾದರಿ

Waiting as the Antidote to Weariness

Waiting. How many of us have an instinctively negative reaction to the word? Think about the last time you waited in line at the grocery store, the doctor’s office, or the red light. What kinds of feelings did you experience? In our historical-cultural moment, we are programmed for immediacy! And yet, despite our human aversion to waiting, it is exactly what Scripture repeatedly commands and invites us to do: “Wait on the Lord.”

The key phrase here is “the Lord.” Although waiting is a human activity, it doesn’t begin with us. Isaiah reminds us that our capacity for waiting and the benefits that come from it are rooted in the character of God himself. Unlike us, this Creator God is indefatigable—“he never grows weak or weary”—and his understanding (including his understanding of time and timing) is immeasurable (Isa. 40:28, NLT). His inexhaustible and undiminishing fullness is the source of the rest, refreshing, and renewal that flow into our lives as we wait on him. The verb Isaiah uses in verse 31—“those who wait on the Lord”—is rich with connotations of trust (and it’s translated that way in some versions). Those who wait on the Lord are hopeful and expectant. Waiting is a present posture that expresses confidence about the future.

Isaiah’s description of those who wait on the Lord is striking. “They will find new strength,” he sings. “They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (v. 31, NLT). Running without growing weary—what a contrast to the “running ragged” that characterizes so many lives! This is running the right race at the right pace. It is running so that your energy is enhanced rather than depleted. What kind of training produces this running? The discipline of waiting.

My friend, wait on the Lord!