Why Wait?Sample

The very first Bible case I ever owned had Isaiah 40:31 stitched on the cover:

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.

As a new Christian, I remember thinking what a wonderful promise that was! Instead of panic and frustration, I could soar and be strengthened during periods of waiting.

But as I grew in my walk with Christ, waiting on God didn’t always look like soaring and renewed strength. For example, even as I sought the Lord when my husband lost his job a few years ago, I had moments when I was weary and felt faint.

I wondered if I was doing something wrong. Was I not praying enough? Not believing enough?

I recently taught a radio and podcast series on the women of the Bible, and I learned some remarkable lessons from women who waited on the Lord.

Consider Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, for example.

Elizabeth could not have children and faced reproach from her community as a result. Despite all of that, she and her husband “were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless” (Luke 1:6). No matter how hard her waiting was, Elizabeth remained faithful to God and His Word. She did what was right.

That got me thinking: where is my focus during seasons of waiting? Am I focused on WHAT I am waiting for, or on WHOM is ultimately at work?

Bottom line: WHAT I do while I wait defines HOW I wait.

If I focused on the job we so desperately needed, panic ensued. If I looked at our dwindling bank account, I inevitably felt fear.

But when I shifted my focus to God’s faithfulness and concentrated on doing God’s work, the fear faded and hope was restored.

And amazingly, the beginning of today’s Bible passage backs this up! Look at Isaiah 40:28-29

“Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the Lord,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.”

We need not grow weary because Our God NEVER faints or is weary. We can run to an inexhaustible source of strength while we wait!

Eventually, our season of unemployment ended. God did exceedingly abundantly above all that we could have asked or thought.

And more than that, God renewed our strength. He taught us that if we were prayerful and faithful, as Elizabeth was, we too could take heart while we waited!