Wait For It...

"Are we there yet?" "How much longer?" "We've been on this road for HOURS!" I think I heard these lines more times than I could count last week as we traveled down to Louisville and back. Our kids don't like to sit in the car and wait. They have no appreciation for the joys of the journey. They just want to get to the destination.

But even people who get as much satisfaction out of the drive as they do reaching the final stop aren't necessarily good at waiting when it comes to life. And life is FULL of waiting. I was reminded of this as I talked to some old friends last week, some of whom started their schooling for ministry at the same time we did and who are just now getting a ministry position, others of whom started a long time ago and are still waiting for a place to go. We had to wait what seemed like a long time to us, and even now that we're "there", there are still plenty of things we're waiting on. If you live long enough on this earth (i.e., more than a few minutes) there will be things to wait for. And you'll quickly realize that many of the things we wait for are not things we have control over. If we did, we probably wouldn't be waiting, because waiting is hard. Often when we have to wait for something we get impatient. We may attempt to take matters into our own hands and find a shortcut (experience teaches that this is not usually a good idea). It's why the Bible has to remind us over and over again to wait on The Lord, wait for The Lord, calm and quiet our souls and WAIT.

In a season of waiting for things we desire, things we believe God desires but is not yet giving us, and things that seem good but may not be ours to have in this life, Isaiah 40-41 is an excellent passage to meditate on. I've been soaking in it for a few weeks now, and every time I read it, different phrases or verses jump out at me, giving me new hope, new joy, new reasons to keep waiting. In these chapters, we are told several things about God that inform our waiting. Here are seven of them (there are more, but I don't have time to write a book):

1) God saves. "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned..." (40:2) We may be waiting for the Lord to act, but we wait as pardoned sinners, as those whose greatest need has already been dealt with decisively. "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32)

2) God has full control over those in authority over us. He "brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness." (40:23-24) "Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step?...I, The Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he." (41:2-4) If you are waiting because others over you have not given you the go ahead, or have put obstacles in your way, know that these authorities (be they government officials, church leaders, seminary profs, parents, or anyone else) are in their position of authority by God's hand and timing, and He does not make accidents.

3) God is wise and all-knowing. "Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?" (40:12-14) This is, of course, a rhetorical question. No one teaches God wisdom because He is already infinitely wiser and more understanding than any other being. And if He is all wise and all knowing, we can trust that all of His acts are the best possible thing that could be done, whether that involves us waiting hours for something, or decades.

4) God perseveres. "Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power, not one is missing." (40:26) Do you ever doubt your ability to keep waiting? Do you ever fear that one day you'll just give up? We have a God who is so concerned about stars that He knows them all by name and makes sure that they all come out every night. And if He cares that much about balls of gas, no person He has chosen and called can ever go missing, out of His control. That doesn't mean we're lazy about actively pressing forward in faith in the waiting, but it does mean that we can have confidence in God's ability to keep us trusting in Him as long as it takes.

5) God is good and He is gentle. "He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young." (40:11) God doesn't yank us along when we are weak and weary with waiting, impatient and harsh with us. He may be withholding something He knows we don't yet need, or can't yet handle, but He does it in kindness, constantly caring for His sheep and gently leading us along when we're weighed down with cares, if we will only lean on him, which leads me to this...

6) God is unfailingly strong. "Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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." (40:28-31) Are you weary with the waiting. Wait on The Lord and renew your strength in him who does not faint or grow weary, who gives power to the faint, and increases strength to him who has no might.

7) God refreshes. "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I The Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them... I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." (41:17-19) God doesn't just lead us to the land of milk and honey and everything green and promising; He brings about springs even in the midst of the wilderness. If we will seek the refreshment that can only be found in God, we can weather the most barren wilderness because we have an unfailing source of water that cannot be seen with the human eye.

And in case that's not enough, here's an eighth! God's Word is always true and will never pass away (40:8). That means that all of these other truths from God's Word will never change. They are just as true today as the day they were written (and long before that), and they will still be true one million years from now.

Waiting is not fun. We often sit in the back of the car and whine out our "Aren't we there yet?" But Isaiah reminds us that we can trust the driver, and that if we can trust the driver, we can learn to relax a little and enjoy the passing view. The time is coming when we'll get to our final destination, and of that we can be certain. In the meantime, I want to take comfort in the character of the God who drew the map, picked the stops and has the car fully under his good and loving control, and will guide it to an end that is far better than anything we would ever have dreamed up on our own.

"Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from The Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God'? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth... But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, 'You are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off'; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." (Isaiah 40:27-28, 41:8-10)