Thankful for the Waiting

The Bible is very clear in several places that we are to wait on the Lord. It says that if we wait we will be blessed. That waiting produces strength. In waiting we will inherit the land. By waiting we will become strong and also that waiting on the Lord will renew us.


What does that mean though? This morning I am waiting for a friend to answer me so that I can make some decisions about my day. I am waiting to see how one of my daughters will do in the class she is struggling with. I am waiting to see the outcome of a family friend who is having surgery. I am waiting for direction in a personal decision. I am waiting for people to call me back to finalize wedding decisions. The list seems long today for the things I am waiting for.


I was reading Isaiah 40 this morning. It talks about waiting on the Lord. It says that He gives strength to the weary and that He increases the power of the weak. It says that even youth get weary! But then it says that if we wait on the Lord we will renew our strength.


I used to hate to sit in the pediatrician's office when one of my girls were sick. After staying up all night with them and trying so desperately to make them feel better, you then had to sit with all the other children and wait your turn. I just wanted them to feel better. I wanted to feel better. But in order for that to happen, I had to wait for the diagnosis and for the medicine. I knew that the doctor could provide answers as well as some sort of solution.


As I continued to read Isaiah, it dawned on me that in order to wait I have to know what I am waiting on or at least Who I am waiting on. I  can look back over the years and see God's provision. There are days that I see for the first time what He did years ago. I am at a season with my girls where I am receiving the blessing of one of them verbally affirming what God did as we were waiting. I have the privilege of seeing the Hope restored in some of my friend's lives and marriages and families because they chose to wait. I am also waiting in the gap for my daughters as I continue to Hope in the One who can provide the answers and some sort of solution for them day by day as well as for their future.


So, today I am choosing to see the benefit of waiting. I do not need to run ahead and fix things. I do not need to respond to someone or something that I don't have the answer for. I don't need to be able to see what is going to happen this weekend or next week or even in the next hour. I know Who it is I am waiting on. I can look back and see the Hope in His timing and His answers. And I can continue to ask Him what He wants me to know and learn each day. As I wait, I can soar on wings like eagles above the circumstances of the day. I can run the race of life by clinging to Him. I can walk through my daily routine and the everyday stuff with the confidence that He goes before me.


The best part about waiting on the Lord is that while I wait He continues to teach me, to strengthen me and to give me power. Waiting isn't passive. Each day has things that need to be done. Decisions that must be made. People that need my presence and my prayers. So as you wait for that diagnosis or that job offer or that paycheck or that prodigal child; take heart in the One who has gone before you. And then join me in the Waiting Room.

Wait for the Lord; 

be strong and take heart 

and wait for the Lord. 

Psalm 27:14