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And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you….Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless,unbroken companionship]! Isaiah 30:18
Wise men say only fools rush in. I have been the fool quite often. Usually my attitude is "Do something even if it's not right!" My husband is the complete opposite, thinking, praying, pondering, and mulling over. It seems it takes him forever to "move" on something and most of the time I'm feeling like he's just stalling. I guess God figures we can balance each other out!
Although it seems that most people don't have patience for anything, it must serve a great purpose in us because most everyone in the Bible who accomplished much, had to endure a long period of waiting! There must be something in the waiting that prepares us for the "Suddenly"!
In Isaiah 30:18 we see that waiting means more than just hanging around doing nothing. It means to expect, look, and long for. It also means to serve, a waiter in a restaurant is there to serve, to wait on people. There is something God is wanting us to do while we are waiting, we just need to find out what. I believe what we're doing and our attitude while we're doing it in the waiting determines the greatness of our suddenly!
This is how Curt Landry describes waiting:
Waiting is a form of adversity, a test of our faith and endurance. Waiting is a time of spiritual warfare, faith, and endurance. Waiting perfects spiritual warfare and takes it to a new level.
Satan often attacks by trying to capitalize on divine delays. When delays come, Satan tries to push our buttons, we get impatient, we move in the flesh, and we are not blessed because we don’t wait on the Lord. Waiting perfects our endurance to stand.
Times of waiting on the Lord are designed to be those times when our faith is stretched and our intimacy with Him is enhanced. We need to know God more, so that we know His ways, so that when the increase comes we will know what to do with it. Waiting brings us into a more intimate relationship with God, our ultimate provider.
Waiting is a significant part of each of our lives. We need to learn how to have patience and function spiritually in the midst of delays. Waiting is part of life, and we will not allow delays to steal our joy in praising Him.
God always makes it worth the wait!
Let 's strive to be pleasing to God in our waiting, to accomplish what He's wanting to accomplish in our waiting. To build our Spirit and character so we are better prepared to handle our "Suddenly" when it comes!
So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.
Galatians 6:9