By Pastor Ben Hill (reproduced with permission)
But they who wait for 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
In today’s fast paced and frenetic society, “wait” is certainly not a concept that is welcomed, much less appreciated! I remember as a kid there were certainly different kinds of “waiting.” Christmas Eve brought excited anticipation which then turned to excited anguish. On Christmas morning we had early breakfast, then hustled off to Christmas Sunrise Church service, then back home to FINALLY see and open presents! There was also the kind of “waiting” that came with knowing I had to show my parents a report card that was somewhere between less than good and awful!!
Today we wait for all kinds of things. We wait at red lights, on hold with the utility companies, in the doctor’s office, for a table at a restaurant on a busy weekend night, and in line at the DMV. We wait for the next blockbuster movie to come out, for the pizza delivery guy, we even have to inconveniently “wait” for the water to boil to make spaghetti! (A watched pot never boils). We spend a lot of time waiting.
Even in our walk with Jesus, the waiting sometimes becomes bothersome. We wait for when He will come back again and clean up this mess! We wait for “peace on earth,” which incidentally won’t come until the former happens. We wait for the time when we will finally stop making the same silly spiritual mistakes, and we often wait impatiently for OTHERS to just ‘see that we are right.’ Yes, sometimes we wait unrealistically! We wait for eternal rest, so we wait… and wait… and wait.
But this waiting shouldn’t get us anxious, or upset, or impatient, or depressed, or frustrated. This waiting should make us soar! Those who wait upon the Lord will have our strength renewed, and we will soar like eagles. We will run and not be tired. We will walk and not grow weary. How, you may ask? Because we are His children, heirs of His grace and mercy, and we will wait…. but oh, the joy that is to come!!
So, wait…just a little bit longer.