Blessings On the Waiting

I was working on a puzzle.

My dog wanted attention.

He nuzzled me. I pet him.

Then I went back to my puzzle.

My dog nuzzled me some more. I hadn’t given him all the attention he wanted at the time.

Soon he walked by me with a decorative pillow from the couch.

I laughed knowing he wanted more attention.

When that didn’t work for him, he went to the basket where I drop my shoes and pulled out my leather sandals that I know he can destroy in a matter of seconds.

I got the sandal and put it back.

Then he went to the basket and pulled out one of my tennis shoes and walked by me.

I retrieved the shoe from his mouth.

He went back to the basket and got another one.

I laughed knowing he wanted attention and to play but didn’t want to wait.

It made me think of the times I pray and feel stuck in a waiting period for an answer.

I pray. I know God hears me.

I don’t get the answer I am waiting for, so I go off and do something about it.

It doesn’t work.

So, I try something else.

That doesn’t work.

I get frustrated.

Then God answers my prayer and I act astonished that although I prayed, and believed, He answered.

Usually whatever I prayed about isn’t taken care of the way I would do it, but much better.

Waiting can be so hard.

However, I received a reminder in the Bible that waiting on the LORD isn’t supposed to be the way I wait. Back in the day this following Bible verse rang out in song quite a bit on Sunday mornings as congregations sang it.

Isaiah 40:31

“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.” NKJV

 Sounds like an amazing promise to me that I should repeat to myself over and over.

This promise becomes clearer when you read the passages beforehand;

Isaiah 40:27

“Why do you say, O Jacob,

And speak, O Israel;

“My way is hidden from the LORD,

And my just claim is passed over by my God?”

28 Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the LORD,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall.

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.”

I must realize these are not just words to read. These words are from a prophet of old. A prophet who God spoke to - directly.

Can you take a moment and let that sink in?

Those words are true yesterday, today, and forever. Hebrews 13:8 KJV

Psalm 27:13- 14 a friend sent this to me in a card when I miscarried.

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed

That I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!

I dealt with some tough issues after that and had another miscarriage. The waiting and struggle were difficult. I wanted to give up on what was in my heart, to be a mom.

Four years later our beautiful daughter was born.

Twenty years after receiving that encouraging card, we became foster parents to a young boy who is still in our lives after returning home.

Twenty-seven years after receiving that encouraging card we became legal guardians to another beautiful girl.

God answered my heart desire in a way I wouldn’t have imagined.

Believe.

Wait.

And He will strengthen your heart, renew your strength, and rise you up, and you will be able to run and not be weary, walk and not faint.

Because God said so.

He said so to a prophet long ago.

And God’s word NEVER comes back void to Him.

Isaiah 55:11

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

If you are in a waiting period - WAIT. 

I pray for strength for you in the waiting. I pray you will let go of your own ideas to fix or accomplish your hearts prayer. I pray for any weariness to drop away from you. I pray for comfort. I pray you will be given faith to believe you will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

In Jesus name, Amen!