Thursday March 4 – Day 16 – WAITING
Thursday March 4 – Day 16 – WAITING
“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 (ESV)
I was going to start today’s devotional with the words, “I am not good with waiting”, then I realized the following truth:
“I like to wait”, said NO ONE EVER.
As we have seen during the pandemic, human behaviour is best described by the following words: “ I want what I want, and I want it NOW”.
We have been waiting for this pandemic to be over.
We have been waiting to resume our church gatherings and be together again (the last time that we were together was almost a year ago on March 8, 2020).
We have been waiting to reunite with our family members to celebrate calendar events like birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter…the list goes on.
We have been waiting for work life and school to go back to normal. Online learning sucks.
I have been waiting to perform in person again, although I have been enjoying my online shows, it is still not the same.
Whoever said that waiting develops character did not survive the pandemic of 2020-21! lol! I feel in a lot of ways that all of these distractions, losses and limitations have simply made many of us more anxious, cold-hearted and reclusive beings.
And yet, in waiting, I have developed perseverance, determination and a desire to do things that I have been putting off for way too long: like cleaning and sorting through our basement, rewiring and setting up my home studio to not only record but also to do live streaming without having to do a complex set up and take down each time, and learning how to do guitar repair work like fretwork/levelling and more detailed setups. As I have worked from home, I have decided to listen to my entire record collection from A-B (ok, I’m only at B – and I have bypassed all of my Beatles’ albums otherwise I would spend years just listening to the Fabs lol). Right now I am at the second volume of the Big Chill soundtrack, and I have enjoyed the trips down memory lane.
I guess it seems that waiting for real life to begin again has done one thing for me: Waiting has allowed me to start living the life that I needed to live.
Waiting reminds us that there is always something we need to address in our lives whether we like to admit it or not.
As we wait on the Lord, we learn to understand that His timing is always perfect.
At the time, we may not feel this, but in hindsight we can see that God knows.
When I think of our struggle as a church in dealing with the building on James and Jackson, that we were able to finish paying off the mortgage at just the right time. We were able to put the building up for sale at just the right time. If we had waited we could have made more money on the sale, however, we have no idea if that would have meant at the cost of lives that were hurt by the dangerous conditions in the building.
As we wait on the Lord, the book of Isaiah reminds us that our strength shall be renewed.
Renewed. Restored. Given back to us.
This pandemic has been a lesson in waiting on the Lord. It has been difficult for me as a worship leader wanting so desperately to lead a team again and yet having to wait until just the right time for the safety of others. I have prayed, consulted members of our leadership and our teams and waited on God.
The pandemic has shown the true character of us all.
For me, it has proven that I am a judgmental, righteous, unforgiving jerk when I am behind the wheel. When I am not behind the wheel, I have so much more patience and share grace with those who are struggling. This is a character fault I am working on. Deep breathing is helping, kinda. It doesn’t help when your 17 year old who is also driving and waiting to start driving school once restrictions lift, begins to tell you how BAD your behaviour is behind the wheel. It is a humbling experience to be shown your faults. Just nice to know that he still loves me, no matter how judgemental I am behind the wheel.
I have been inspired by the character of those who have done such amazing acts of selflessness and goodness. It has encouraged me to keep waiting in hope that the Lord’s timing is always right, always perfect.
For those who grew up in a Catholic church, one of the beloved songs from their hymnal would be “On Eagles Wings”. In fact I remember Rose-Frances telling me how much she loved the song growing up. That image of being lifted up and being able to soar is a powerful one. As we wait on the Lord, we are reassured that it will be an amazing flight.
We are reminded that we will run and not be weary – how amazing would THAT be?
We are reminded that we will walk, even on the hottest and driest of days, and not faint.
God recognizes when we wait for Him. He walks with us during the time of waiting, knowing that we desperately need Him for strength and for encouragement.
What are you waiting for today? Have you been praying that God would give you specific direction on a life plan or a situation that you can’t make sense of? In prayer, give that concern to God without delay. Pray that God would make clear His plan for you, and tell God that you are wiling to wait.
If you are willing to wait for God, God will not leave you hanging.
Trust that He is bringing all people, facts, significance and truth in line while you wait. He reveals it step by step, so as not to overwhelm us.
And at just the right time, as we wait on God, He will make everything known in His time.
Today may we all take a leap of faith in waiting on Jesus, knowing that it will be the best time we ever spent. Live, in truth, and in hope, that God will hear you and guide you.
“All things we be made beautiful in His time”
Celebrate this truth today and continue to hurry up….and wait 🙂
