Waiting for Him

I don't like waiting.

Few of us do, I just don't do it well . . .  in the least.

Whether it is on traffic or on my kids, my patience is easily tried, time and time again.

Sometimes we find ourselves waiting for all kinds of things, most minor, others more major. We pray for direction and discernment, confirmation and conviction, help and healing, provision and promises -fulfilled.

Recently, it was my turn to share during our weekly staff devotion time. My name had been by this date on the calendar for several months and as the time approached, this idea of "waiting" kept coming to mind.

"Okay," I thought. "I will do a search on what the Bible has to say about waiting."

I went to Biblegateway.com and to see what verses would pop up.

My findings? Lots of examples of Biblical peeps "waiting" or being warned about those who "lie in wait." The results I found in Psalms, Proverbs and Isaiah seemed to be just the promises I was looking for. I wanted the devotion I was leading to be encouraging and up-beat.

Then a particular reference from Isaiah caught my eye:

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

    and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

Isaiah 30:18a

All the other passages seemed to speak to those of us who "wait on the Lord" - You know, because then He will renew our strength, etc... BUT, this verse was different. The subject was not expected. We are not the ones doing the waiting - God is. 

And who is He waiting on? Us. 

Why? To be gracious to us. 

Here I am in my arrogance, self-righteousness and pride thinking I am the one waiting on God. I am praying for His timing and His provision and His will without acknowledging that in the waiting He is graciously giving me all three. 

The devotion I thought would be encouraging to others, turned out to be convicting to me.

As He waits, He is revealing His exalted place as my Creator, Savior and Lord. By comparison, especially without Him, I am lowly and insignificant. 

Like an unbelievably patient parent waiting for their toddler's temper tantrum to pass, He is responding to my impatience with mercy.

The last part of verse carries just as much weight: 

For the Lord is a God of justice;

    blessed are all those who wait for him.

Isaiah 30:18b

He is indeed a God of justice. He is not making us wait unfairly or without gain. When we find ourselves waiting for Him, He sees us. He knows and we are blessed. 

He always does immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. He doesn't waste time in our waiting. He is working on us and for us and in us in ways that are higher than our understanding. 

My eyes seemed to be opened by this new-to-me perspective on waiting . . . If God is patiently waiting on me, then who am I to not wait patiently on Him?!

Let's face it, whether it is for test results, a committee decision, or a returned phone call, when our perspective is where it oughta be, we are all ultimately waiting on Him anyway. 

And in that waiting, let's wait like we know we are being blessed for it. As He graciously waits for me, so I will wait for Him.