Isaiah 40:31 (NKJV) 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.
(It was our privilege to have Brother Brian Van Deventer with us for our Sunday morning service. He is part of a ministry called Enabling Mission Endeavors or EME. They are based in Athens Greece and have ministry outreaches that effect North Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Brian is also involved in encouraging Christian businesses and developing leadership. For more information about this powerful missionary ministry, you can go to www.emeministries.org. Here are some thoughts on what he shared with us.
Part of his message involved a definition of waiting that I had already used in our church. I always find it exciting when God confirms things so clearly. I decided to re-publish my post on the same topic. You can find the whole message on effective waiting in the posts for late July and August of this year. The audio for these messages are available on our web site, www.livingwordgreene.com, via the media tab and the tabs for July and/or August. Brian’s message is under the “This Month” tab and will be under October shortly.)
The last few weeks we have been looking at another aspect of walking in the favor of God. That aspect is the necessity of successful waiting. We all must wait in life. Faith in God requires waiting. Walking in the favor God wants to bring us from others is tied to waiting by nature. We must wait for circumstances or people to respond to the moving of God’s Spirit because that is the channel through which favor comes. Last week we spent time studying the most well known scripture in the bible concerning waiting, Isaiah chapter 40 and especially verse 31. We learned things that hinder our waiting as well as the benefits that we can expect from waiting. This week I want to look at how to wait on the Lord.
As we begin, I believe that it is very helpful to understand the definitions of the words used in the bible. Many times, we think we know what words mean but we really do not. In addition, there are shades of meaning in the Greek and, in this case, Hebrew words used that do not come through in the English translation. Understanding what the words God uses really mean will release the revelation in God’s Word to our understanding.
In studying waiting, I found that there are two basic Hebrew words that the English bible translates as “wait.” I also noticed that sometimes the bible uses the phrase “wait on the Lord” and sometimes the phrase “wait for the Lord.” I fully expected that I would find that one of the Hebrew words would be translated “wait on” and the other would be translated “wait for” the Lord. This was not the case. Both words were, at different times, translated both ways.
Both words carry the idea that we have to wait for the Lord to do what he says he will do. We are waiting for God to bring something about that we cannot rush or bring about on our own. We are waiting for his timing. We are waiting for him to work out circumstances or deal with people. We may also be waiting for God to work in us so that we will be ready to receive. Both words give us insight into how we must wait on the Lord.
The word used in Isaiah 40:31 is a a primitive root meaning; to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figurative) to expect :- gather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon). There is much in this word to help us understand how to wait.
I like the idea that to wait on the Lord means to be bound together with him. The thought of being twisted together with him is very important. The picture is that of a rope. A rope is made up of many fibers twisted together to form a whole. We were recently visiting Mystic Seaport in Mystic Connecticut. This historic town reenacts the elements of an 1800’s seaport. One of the displays was how they made rope for the sailing ships.
The process begins with very small fibers twisted together to make cords. The cords get larger and larger until they become very thick, very strong ropes capable of holding giant ships against the force of the sea. The small strands that the rope maker begins with could not stand up to much strain at all, but the finished rope is nearly impossible to break.
This is what it means to wait on the Lord. We must become entwined with him until we disappear into the great whole called the body of Christ. Ephesians 4 tells us that we are strong when we stand together as one with each joint supplying its strength to the whole. (Eph. 4:16) Of course at the center is the Lord. To wait on the Lord means to be so entwined with him that our life and his are not separate things but one whole that is much stronger than we could ever be alone.
One of the first scriptures we looked at in this study was Isaiah 8:17. In this verse a different Hebrew word is used. This word is a primitive root that carries the idea of piercing]; properly to adhere to; hence to await :- long, tarry, wait.
This gives us another insight into how we wait on the Lord. This word implies that we need to “adhere to the Lord” in order to wait on him. We use an idiom that is very similar. We say, “He stuck like glue” to mean someone who stayed with a person or a thing through adversity. What a powerful picture of waiting on the Lord.
When we are faced with struggles and problems in life, we need to stick like glue to the Lord. The devil wants to pull us away from him. Often our emotions fight us and try to draw us to other solutions for our problems. This is always true but it is especially applicable when we must wait. This word tells us what we must do in these circumstances.
When we are tempted to think that God will not come through for us this time, we need to “stick like glue” to our faith. When the devil tries to tell us that God is not concerned about us or that he has forgotten us, we need to “stick like glue” to our trust in God’s love for us. When our emotions want to rage and draw us away from our confidence in God, we need to be like David and stick like glue to our trust in the Lord and his inevitable provision.
Psalm 103:1-2 (NKJV) 1 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
When faced with the necessity of waiting on the Lord, keep these two ideas in mind. My life is entwined with God and my strength is now his strength. I will “stick to the Lord like glue” no matter what comes and in the end, I will be victorious. With these ideas firmly entrenched in our thinking, we will never fail to be successful in our times of waiting on, or for, the Lord.
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