Wait on the Lord

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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.
Isaiah 40: 31 New King James Version (NKJV)
 
 
The verse from Isaiah 40:31 came while I was resting and waiting for my body to regain strength from an illness.  I found the message which contained the Isaiah 40:31 passage on my Facebook feed.  Pastor Tony Evans, who has been grieving the loss of his wife, shared how he was finding strength amid his struggle.  I could relate to his struggle after just marking the nineteenth anniversary of my husband’s step into Heaven’s Gates.  The weakness I felt from this illness reminded me of the weakness I felt when I lost my life partner.  I needed encouragement and support that came from God’s word and His body of believers.  I needed the Lord to renew my strength, but before that could happen, I had to “wait” on Him. 
 
When I think about wait, I relate it to waiting at the pharmacy, waiting in traffic, waiting for something to happen.  I have thought of the word wait as waiting expectantly, which is a good thing.  However, the word wait comes from a primitive root word that means to bind together, perhaps by twisting.  The root word meaning gives you something to do while you are waiting.  That something to do is to bind yourself to the Lord who created you, get up close and personal with Him.  Turn your focus on the one you are waiting on to do what only He can do.
 
While you are waiting, ask the Lord to show you a time when you waited for something a long time and how it felt to receive it. 
 
As a teenager, my desire for affection and attention led me to look for love in all the wrong places.  The path I chose because I wasn’t willing to wait for God’s plan put me on a path that led to a teen pregnancy and the relinquishment of my right to mother my son.  I struggled with my decision and the desire to be a mother for twenty years before God blessed my husband and me with the opportunity to adopt a precious baby girl.  I knew the gift He gave was worth the wait.  In fact, this was just the beginning of my journey to seek the Lord’s help in my life. Often, we receive a gift from the Lord that takes His daily, moment by moment, help to take care of it.
 
Forty-two years after I relinquished my right be a mother, I heard the voice of my son for the first time.  Frankly, the return of my son was above and beyond anything I hoped or imagined God would do for me.  Since that moment, I have cherished the sound of his voice and the gift of his return to my life.  My encouragement to you is that God has restoration in His plans for you, and there is nothing He can’t do.
 
Then ask the Lord to show you a time when you didn’t wait on His best plan for your life, and you stepped out to fix it.
 
There was a time when I got weary of waiting.  I stepped out into the world and made a choice that took me on a path directly opposite of the plan God had for me.  I thank God every day that He rescued and picked me up from the path that would lead to destruction and put me back on His path of life.  God’s forgiveness and love is ever present and always available.  Sometimes, God shows us if we don’t deal with something from our past, it has permission to step into our future.  God wants to heal and deliver us from all our hurts and pain from our past.  
 
Are you waiting on the Lord for something? There are some things to do while you are waiting.
 
Spend time with the Lord of Creation, and ask Jesus to be your best friend, trust the Holy Spirit to daily comfort and guide you down your life path.  
Worship the Lord and remember that God inhabits the praises of His people. (Psalm 22:1)
Spend time in His word, ask the Lord for encouragement that jumps off the page of your bible, and write them down. (Psalm 130: 5-6)
Use these words to pray back to God, thanking Him and declaring the promises from His word.
​Enter every day with a thankful heart, and you will be strengthened while you wait on the Lord.