Waiting is Wearing

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings
as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:16

One of the most difficult things I face as a Christian is that of waiting. I don't care what it is I'm waiting on, it never comes easy for me. Waiting has involved the big and little things of life for me. My one misconception about waiting is while I am waiting, I often feel God is waiting too and not really working behind the scenes. I know better now.

Through the years, I have learned waiting is often required for those things that are really worth waiting for. We wait for the big and little things in our lives, but for some reason, the size doesn't matter...I and perhaps you don't like the waiting process.

I've sat in a lot of waiting rooms. In fact, I did just that today waiting to go in for my eye injection. A waiting room is a strange place. It can be packed with people but it has a very unsettling silence about it. Folks usually talk with whoever they arrived with but there just isn't a lot of conversation among those waiting for their names to be called. I often feel that although I'm in a waiting room with perhaps several people, it seems at times that I am the only person sitting there. Waiting rooms are like that for some reason. Folks in waiting rooms are doing just that...waiting...and one's waiting is very personal, rarely to be discussed with anyone. As we wait in that room, we observe patients being called one by one while we still wait. Only when we've been seen and leave the building do we feel a kind of relief.

In the waiting process, it's important for me to understand there are things I am prayerfully waiting for I may not see prior to my exiting that waiting room for Heaven. However, those things are important enough for me to be praying about them now and until God resolves them for me one way or the other. For instance, I'm waiting for a change in our culture that may not come. I'm waiting for athletes to honor our flag and country. There are folks I'm praying for regarding their salvation. I'm presently waiting a new pastor to come to our church for which our church has waited for several months. My waiting room list is even longer but won't belabor my list.

What do we do about waiting. I really don't want to hear any dissertations on the subject of patience right now. That word rings in my mind as I sit in my waiting room. In my waiting, I really want to keep a good attitude that honors and respects the Lord. I know as I wait, God is working. My mind says, “Hurry up Lord” but He works many plans along with my plan all at the same time and if I've learned anything about Him in these years, it's that He does all thing well.

Some verses that may be of encouragement to those of you who wait that have blessed me in recent days I hope will bless you “co-waiters” with me.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and
he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say
on the Lord.
Psalm 27:14

Notice with me that waiting isn't a choice. We are commanded in this verse to simply wait. In that process we are promised His strength for the time. We can reject His strengthening but that would be most foolish. The first verse of this chapter, however, shows us how He's earned the privilege to function in our lives as He sees fit. Notice in the following verse our benefits in Him:

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of
my life; of whom shall I be afraid.

As we sit waiting, He's there guiding and enlightening us with His light. That light is ours because we know His saving grace in our lives. Waiting can create its own kind of fear, but fear isn't of God, it's of Satan (II Timothy 1:7).

There are other verses in Scripture that can aid us in this whole process. When we wait on the Lord, and keep His way (Ps. 37:34) we will know the victory and answers that can only come from the Lord. In this whole process, we are still called upon to not just sit and wait but to continue serving and keeping the God's ways. God will answer in His time, but will be a real and loving presence with us in our waiting rooms.

Thank You Father, for the way you work in our lives. We may not understand how You work but we know You always work on our behalf for what is in our best interest. We are grateful for your promise that as we wait, You will strengthen us beyond our expectation. We love You dearly. In Jesus name....Amen