"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."(Isaiah 40:31).
This is a very familiar promise, and one which most of us have delighted to repeat as a comfort and means of strength to our tainting hearts. But do we not find the blessings mentioned here uncommon in our lives? I fear the truth too many times is that we run and are weary, we walk and do faint.
Here we find one condition upon which the four resultant blessings hang. This one condition of waiting upon God is entirely within the reach of all, whatever may be the age, condition or environment. God has made it purposely so that all may come into a realization of His blessings. All may not be able to preach, teach, go as missionaries or enter into public service, but any Christian can wait upon the Lord.
Here is another word of encouragement. The four promised blessings are backed up by the shall of Jehovah God. This gives it power and authority. It is not the word or promise of man with the fulfillment dependent upon his frailty; but the Word of God in heaven and as pure as His name and character. The question then is concerning our part--waiting upon God. This sole condition met, the resultant blessings are sure. Obviously, then, the absence of the blessing proves that either we do not meet the condition or we do not understand its meaning.
We like certain promises of Scripture largely because we feel there is something strong, beautiful, and triumphant in them, but we do not really consider what they mean. What does the Scripture mean by waiting upon God? Everything hinges upon that.
First of all let us rid our minds of one idea common to all of us--waiting upon the Lord never means praying or prayer. To wait, according to Scripture, never means prayer, in the general sense of petition and asking. This does not mean that we are not to pray. Prayer has its own great and unique place in the Christian's life and I only wish we realized more fully its importance and power, but prayer is not my theme. As prayer has it's distinct place and part in the Christian's life, so has waiting upon the Lord its place and meaning.
Upon study, I find the Bible tells us much about waiting. It is used seventy-six times in the Old Testament with twenty-five different phases or degrees of meaning and twenty-one times in the New Testament with eight different meanings.
May the Holy Spirit help us to find a clearer revelation of its meaning, that, having done our praying, we may know how intelligently and in faith to wait upon the Lord.
Prayer is precedent to waiting. They are inseparable.
Excerpted from the book : BROKEN BREAD by John Wright Follette at THE GOOD NEWS © 1998-2005. All rights reserved. (Please include this line to forward the message).
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