Ancient Words For Today - 23
Isaiah 40:28-31 is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. The full text goes like this:
Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 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.
It is interesting that God's promise of renewed strength is given to those who wait upon the Lord. So what does it mean to wait upon the Lord? The word wait has three primary definitions:
1) To remain inactive or to be available or in readiness until something expected happens.
It occurs to me that waiting upon the Lord, in the Biblical sense, encompasses all three meanings.
We live in a world where we expect and are accustomed to receiving instant satisfaction or gratification of the things we want or think we need. Our desire for instant gratification is catered to and capitalized upon by those who want our money or something else from us. Slogans like "Why wait - you can have it all now", "Have it your way", "If it feels right - do it", "Money is no object - use your credit card" beckon to us through attractive advertisements on TV, magazines, the mail, roadside bulletin boards, and most recently, junk email and pop-up adds on our internet browsers.
All too often we get into serious trouble when we follow impulsively or thoughtlessly after our wants and perceived needs without assessing the cost or considering the possible adverse consequences. Not seeking and receiving God's wisdom and guidance before making our choices is our most serious failure. We are directed in scripture to wait upon the Lord - to call upon him and ask for His wise counsel, which He will never hold back if we ask in earnest, wanting to follow His leading. If we wait upon the Lord, He will answer and guide us. If we follow what He tells us, we will have His peace and the assurance of knowing we are taking the best action in every circumstance, and He will renew our strength to follow that course.
As we learn about and anticipate receiving God's great and precious promises to us, we will become content with what we have and see that what we have is always sufficient for what God knows we need. As we serve Him with glad hearts, God will provide for all of our needs, according to His riches and glory, and we will find joy unspeakable as we accomplish His will for our lives.
Here's how Peter explained it: Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:1-8
May He shower you with blessings and guide your path as you wait upon the Lord.
2) To look forward to something eagerly.
3) To perform the duties of an attendant or servant, or to supply the wants of a person, like a waiter in a restaurant.