Text Message
Did you say wait?
Isaiah 30:15-18
I don’t know about you, but there is a concept in life that I struggle with – waiting. I am blessed with impatience! I want things to work out when I want them to work out.
The world around me is full of messages that fuel my impatience. Ads urge me to buy, buy, buy – with no thought of saving for a desired item. A feel-good attitude seems to be the only thing that guides people’s actions. We’re even told that health issues shouldn’t last forever – shouldn’t there just be a magic potion to get rid of whatever we’re struggling with?
Despite these messages, I’ve discovered that much of life is about waiting: waiting in lines, waiting for phone calls, waiting for answers, waiting for opportunities, waiting for life to move us to the next stage.
The people of God were brought to a place of waiting when Hezekiah was king of Judah. Israel, the northern kingdom, had been under siege for three years by the Assyrians before they were defeated and deported to foreign lands. Within five years, Assyria was back to see if they could also overthrow the southern kingdom of Judah.
Isaiah, prophet during Hezekiah’s reign, brought good news to the king – all that was required of the leader during this assault was to wait! God would provide the victory. Hezekiah believed the message and shared it with his subjects.
But some became impatient with the inconvenience of being surrounded by an enemy. The nobles went out and made deals with the Egyptians. They took things into their own hands, ignoring what the king had called them to do. All the while God wanted to be their help – to be the one on whom they relied. God told the people to wait for deliverance.
In the end, two things happened.
First, there were those who fled. They didn’t have the patience to wait, and the result of their impatience was disaster.
Second, there were others who stayed. Even though they were uncertain, they waited to see what God would do. Their patience resulted in deliverance from the Assyrians.
Our attitudes about waiting and being patient are very similar to those of the people of Judah. Like the nobles, we want to get on with life. God’s still, small voice encourages us to wait and see what God will do; impatience whispers in our other ear – if only we would take things into our own hands, we might see our anticipated results sooner.
Why does God make us wait for things? Isaiah 30:18 gives us the following picture:
1) The Lord longs to be gracious to you. I like pink Depression glass and have been collecting it for a while. I was searching for a particular cream pitcher to match a sugar bowl I had. Over the years, I’d look for the piece at antique stores and garage sales.
I almost bought several pieces that were a close match, but always stopped myself from purchasing them – I wanted the real thing. Finally, after 10 years, I found it! My waiting paid off and I now have a set of matched pieces. God’s graciousness is like a matched piece of glassware – when we find it, it completes who we are. The wait is worth it. And, in the interim, we experience God’s encouragement and love.
2) The Lord rises to show you compassion. Isn’t this the picture of a parent? Children long for things before they’re ready for them. A parent delays gratification – with compassion. God, our loving parent, knows what we’re ready for and what we still need to learn before yielding to our desires. In waiting, we experience God’s compassion.
3) The Lord is a God of justice. God wants to do right by us. But to do right often takes time. A search on the internet about “waiting for justice” fills my screen with nearly a million sites about people who are still waiting for justice for their cause. I’m reminded that, in every way, justice takes time. God will act justly toward us – at the right time.
4) Blessed are those who wait. While God is being gracious, showing compassion and justice, we’re invited to wait. This kind of waiting is not a sighing, defeated kind of waiting. Instead, I imagine God’s delight at our anticipation of the way he will act on our behalf.
In waiting, the ultimate blessing comes when we hope in our God who will, in due time, give us the best gift. I pray that I will learn to experience the richness of waiting for God rather than the poverty of impatience in solving my own issues.
Isaiah 30:15-18
I don’t know about you, but there is a concept in life that I struggle with – waiting. I am blessed with impatience! I want things to work out when I want them to work out.
The world around me is full of messages that fuel my impatience. Ads urge me to buy, buy, buy – with no thought of saving for a desired item. A feel-good attitude seems to be the only thing that guides people’s actions. We’re even told that health issues shouldn’t last forever – shouldn’t there just be a magic potion to get rid of whatever we’re struggling with?
Despite these messages, I’ve discovered that much of life is about waiting: waiting in lines, waiting for phone calls, waiting for answers, waiting for opportunities, waiting for life to move us to the next stage.
The people of God were brought to a place of waiting when Hezekiah was king of Judah. Israel, the northern kingdom, had been under siege for three years by the Assyrians before they were defeated and deported to foreign lands. Within five years, Assyria was back to see if they could also overthrow the southern kingdom of Judah.
Isaiah, prophet during Hezekiah’s reign, brought good news to the king – all that was required of the leader during this assault was to wait! God would provide the victory. Hezekiah believed the message and shared it with his subjects.
But some became impatient with the inconvenience of being surrounded by an enemy. The nobles went out and made deals with the Egyptians. They took things into their own hands, ignoring what the king had called them to do. All the while God wanted to be their help – to be the one on whom they relied. God told the people to wait for deliverance.
In the end, two things happened.
First, there were those who fled. They didn’t have the patience to wait, and the result of their impatience was disaster.
Second, there were others who stayed. Even though they were uncertain, they waited to see what God would do. Their patience resulted in deliverance from the Assyrians.
Our attitudes about waiting and being patient are very similar to those of the people of Judah. Like the nobles, we want to get on with life. God’s still, small voice encourages us to wait and see what God will do; impatience whispers in our other ear – if only we would take things into our own hands, we might see our anticipated results sooner.
Why does God make us wait for things? Isaiah 30:18 gives us the following picture:
1) The Lord longs to be gracious to you. I like pink Depression glass and have been collecting it for a while. I was searching for a particular cream pitcher to match a sugar bowl I had. Over the years, I’d look for the piece at antique stores and garage sales.
I almost bought several pieces that were a close match, but always stopped myself from purchasing them – I wanted the real thing. Finally, after 10 years, I found it! My waiting paid off and I now have a set of matched pieces. God’s graciousness is like a matched piece of glassware – when we find it, it completes who we are. The wait is worth it. And, in the interim, we experience God’s encouragement and love.
2) The Lord rises to show you compassion. Isn’t this the picture of a parent? Children long for things before they’re ready for them. A parent delays gratification – with compassion. God, our loving parent, knows what we’re ready for and what we still need to learn before yielding to our desires. In waiting, we experience God’s compassion.
3) The Lord is a God of justice. God wants to do right by us. But to do right often takes time. A search on the internet about “waiting for justice” fills my screen with nearly a million sites about people who are still waiting for justice for their cause. I’m reminded that, in every way, justice takes time. God will act justly toward us – at the right time.
4) Blessed are those who wait. While God is being gracious, showing compassion and justice, we’re invited to wait. This kind of waiting is not a sighing, defeated kind of waiting. Instead, I imagine God’s delight at our anticipation of the way he will act on our behalf.
In waiting, the ultimate blessing comes when we hope in our God who will, in due time, give us the best gift. I pray that I will learn to experience the richness of waiting for God rather than the poverty of impatience in solving my own issues.
—Lorraine Dick
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Isaiah 30:15-18 (link to BibleGateway.com)
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it....” Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30: 15, 18)
