Wait for the Lord

Scripture: Isaiah 30:18 (ESV)

Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

and therefore, he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

       For the Lord is a God of justice;

blessed are all those who wait for him.

 

Devotion:

           

            Isaiah’s message to the nation of Israel was that if they waited for the Lord they would surely be blessed. It is not clear from the context when exactly these words were written. But it matters little. Because it seems that Israel was always waiting for something. From waiting to return from exile, waiting to be free from domination by foreign powers, to waiting for the long-awaited messiah, Israel seems to have been in permanent wait mode.

 

            Nevertheless, God always fulfilled his promises to Israel. For us Christians, who live having received the fulfillment of the promised messiah. We can understand Israel’s impatience with God. Christians have been waiting two millennia for the return of that savior.

 

Today we live in a truly impatient society. We have the ability to get what we want pretty much when we want it. Yet the one desire of every Christian’s heart, the return of Jesus, seems to be delayed indefinitely.

 

            Isaiah’s plea to the nation of Israel, is our plea as well. Indeed, the apostle Peter in his second letter to the churches sensing perhaps the restlessness that the Church was feeling penned these words, “⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9) Both Isaiah and Peter realized that God’s delay was due to His patience toward his people. As hard as that may be to swallow in our modern age of instant communication we must wait.

 

            Since we must wait, how then should we wait? Do we simply sit down, fold our hands, and wait for the Lord to act? Not at all! In the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples he says that we are to be working actively for His kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as in heaven. We are given a task to accomplish, a life to live in service to our fellow man and to our God. As we work for the Lord, we must be busy working to usher in the kingdom. Not that we will bring this about through our efforts alone, but that is the assignment we have been given. Let us pray that we will be faithful to the task ahead of us.

 

Prayer:

           

            Heavenly Father who accomplishes all things in due time. Help us to be patient. Show us the work we must accomplish for you as we wait for you to return. We give you thanks for all the blessings you have given us. Help us never to overlook or take for granted your great mercy toward your people not willing that any should perish. Keep us in your care and deliver us from our need to have all things we desire immediately. Amen.