Well Worth the Wait - July 31

Read Isaiah 40:29-31 (ESV)

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 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.

Reflect

Do you struggle with patience while you wait? What helps you endure a tough waiting season?

Recently, some friends shared that after they asked their son to be patient, he replied, “I don’t do patience.” I get it. Kids these days get impatient whenever their online videos pause just a few seconds to buffer. But we used to have to wait for the internet to dial up just to get started!

If we are honest though, adults aren’t much better. We live in an on-demand and instantaneous world. It is what we’ve come to expect. Now, no matter how fast things get, we are still impatient.

But it isn’t just everyday inconveniences that are hard to tolerate. The true test of patience is persevering when life gets hard. Sometimes, waiting hurts. Proverbs 13:12 says that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” Have you ever had to wait so long for something that it genuinely made you feel sick inside? Maybe you’ve prayed for something so long that you are starting to despair. I’ve been there.

Today’s verses offer us some encouragement. When I read this passage, I often picture a man stumbling through a dry desert, searching for water. He is tired, weary, and longing for a drink to quench his thirst and refresh him. It doesn’t matter if the man is old or young. The prophet Isaiah wrote that even the young are susceptible to this exhaustion.

But the hope for the faint and weary is the Lord. Isaiah wrote that “those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.” Notice that it doesn’t say they are renewed after God gives them what they want. Rather it says that strength is renewed while they are waiting. The key is who they are waiting on—the Lord.

But what does it mean to wait on the Lord? The ESV study Bible explains that waiting on the Lord is “savoring God’s promise by faith until the time of fulfillment.” It also notes that the renewal mentioned is “endless supplies of fresh strength.”

The psalmists also had a lot to say about waiting for the Lord. In Psalm 27:13-14 David wrote, “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!”

In Psalm 130:5-7, the psalmist wrote: “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning, more than the watchmen for morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.”

You see, the reward for waiting on the Lord isn’t that He eventually gives us whatever we want. The reward for waiting on the Lord is the Lord Himself! Our hearts can take courage in difficult seasons of waiting because we know that it will be worth it in the end. We will see His goodness. We will experience steadfast love. In Him, we have redemption and salvation. In Him, we have eternal hope!

Friends, I know that waiting is hard. But when we know Who we are waiting for, we will find never-ending supplies of His strength. Because we know the Lord, we know that He is trustworthy. He wouldn’t make us wait unless it was for our good and His glory. He has a purpose in waiting and we can trust that it will be more than worth the wait in the end.

Respond

Lord, I confess that sometimes I struggle with patience, and I don’t understand why I have to wait. But I trust You. I know that You must have a good reason for the wait. I also know that You are the ultimate reward! Thank You for giving me the strength I need every day to wait for You. You are well worth the wait. Amen.

Reveal

Think of someone who is in a long season of waiting. Reach out with a note, call, or prayer, and remind them that God has not forgotten them. Your encouragement may be the fresh strength they need to keep waiting on the Lord.