Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Tired of Waiting?

A few weeks ago I was challenged with a scripture I have quoted all my life...
Isaiah 40:31
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.

At the time, I was in a place of complete and utter exhaustion. To think of holding on to hope for one more day, let alone another month was to my mind, impossible. I had been "waiting" on God completely! (or so I thought) I had submitted to His timing, standing in faith waiting on the promise to come to pass and still feeling forgotten and NOT strengthened!

As you could imagine, when this verse came up again, I was a little offended. Taking this to the Lord, I clearly showed Him how I had been waiting on Him! But why was I so tired?? Shouldn't I be gaining strength?? Obviously I was doing something wrong...

So I began to seek God daily, asking Him to show me HOW to wait on Him. How does that look different than what I was doing???
Then I saw clearly that I had been waiting on the EVENT, not waiting on the LORD.

In His faithfulness and love He showed me this:  I can still have hope, I can still pray/ask, and I can even still be in expectation that He will answer.
HOWEVER, the eyes of my heart have to be focused on HIM > not on the promise that comes from Him. This is done so easily by taking time to worship HIM just for who is is, not for what He is doing for me.
When I begin to declare His goodness to me, His faithfulness, His might, His beauty, His grace, His power and His love… everything that HE is, my focus is now diverted from- the EVENT to HIM. And oh how I love Him and all that HE is :)

Here is the same verse in the Message translation that help me put things into perspective:

 Is. 40:27-31
Why would you ever complain -saying, "God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me"? Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. He knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. Those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.

4 comments:

  1. thank you for posting this. I too am in waiting stage and this is EXACTLY what I needed to read. bless you!

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  2. Beautiful!!!! It's all about HIM! I love this!

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  3. Great insight! I hadn't stopped before to consider the difference between waiting on the Lord, and waiting on what I think he is going to do. If I would just stop and wait and listen to what God wants to do in my life, I would be a lot better off.
    Thanks for the reminder!

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  4. thank you for all the great comments!! Love hearing that others are encouraged through things I am learning as well!!

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