Waiting on God

[Lou Newton]

Isaiah 40
²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Notice that God is everlasting and therefore not in any hurry, as men tend to be. One reason we are here is to learn to be patient, which simply means to ignore time.

Also notice that God does not give strength to those who profess to be strong, but He gives strength to those who have come to know their weakness.

We see that those who hope in the Lord first soar like eagles, then run, and when they mature, they will walk and not get faint. It is implied that the young Christians will soar like eagles but will get faint from soaring. Then they will run and grow weary. Finally they will wait upon the Lord and walk and not be faint.

Also notice that The Lord often speaks of His people WALKING with Him, but not running with Him.

Genesis 5

²¹ When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.²² After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. ²³ Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. ²⁴ Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

God is not in a hurry. Men are in a hurry. That is why so many want to believe that The Lord created the universe in 6 earth days. They want instant deliverance and instant reward. God calls Himself, The Ancient of Days. Days has to do with the coming of warmth and light and finally the measure of time. God also says a 1000 years is like a day to Him. So God has been here for many many 1000's of earth years. For even God calls the days, ( 1000 years) ancient. What is ancient to man, is nothing to God. What is ancient to God, is beyond the understand of men.

Men are in a hurry to see their desires come to past. But when they near death, then suddenly they want time to stop.

Gen 1:5 And GodH430 calledH7121 the lightH216 Day,H3117 and the darknessH2822 he calledH7121 Night.H3915 And the eveningH6153 and the morningH1242 wereH1961 the firstH259 day.H3117

H3117

יוֹם
yôm
yome
From an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literally (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figuratively (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverbially): - age, + always, + chronicles, continually (-ance), daily, ([birth-], each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), + elder, X end, + evening, + (for) ever (-lasting, -more), X full, life, as (so) long as (. . . live), (even) now, + old, + outlived, + perpetually, presently, + remaineth, X required, season, X since, space, then, (process of) time, + as at other times, + in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), X whole (+ age), (full) year (-ly), + younger.
Total KJV occurrences: 2295

Notice that the root of the word "yom" is not TIME, but warmth and the coming of light. God is LIGHT and not concerned about time. God did not make time the focus of the very first Chapter of His Book. The measurement of time is not even mentioned until the 4th day.



QUOTES on 'WAITING'


"Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to

sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort. Waiting

for God means, first, activity under command; second, readiness

for any new command that may come; third, the ability to do

nothing until the command is given."

- G. Campbell Morgan


"If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole

hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth

waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us: it tries faith,

exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing

when it comes. The Lord's people have always been a waiting people"

- Charles Spurgeon


"But how much self-reliance obtains in Christian service. More

effort is exerted in planning and arranging than in waiting upon

the Lord. Double is the time expended on preparing the division

and conclusion of a sermon than on receiving the power from on

high because there is so much trust in the flesh."

- Watchman Nee


"Waiting for God means power to do nothing save under command.

This is not lack of power to do anything. Waiting for God needs

strength rather than weakness. It is power to do nothing. It is the

strength that holds strength in check. It is the strength that

prevents the blundering activity which is entirely false and will

make true activity impossible when the definite command comes."

- G. Campbell Morgan


"By perseverance the snail reached the ark." - Charles Spurgeon


"Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do until we get

what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what

God wants us to be."

- John Ortberg


"It is in the course of our feeble and very imperfect waiting that

God Himself, by His hidden power, strengthens us and works

out in us the patience of the great saints, the patience of Christ

Himself." - Andrew Murray


"Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is

often harder than to work." - Peter Marshall


'"Stand still" - keep the posture of an upright man, ready for

action, expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently awaiting

the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to

you, as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, "Go forward."'

-Charles Spurgeon


"Prayer means not always talking to Him, but waiting before Him

till the dust settles and the stream runs clear."

- F.B. Meyer