Wait Upon the Lord

Isaiah 40:31 - 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.

In our amazing study on the Book of Esther, Beth Moore was looking for the perfect ending to the session she was just about to tape. She waited all right--until she and her team were in prayer before she began the taping. She showed us the slip of paper on which she had scribbled the final word. She already had the scripture above, but she wanted clarification. Here is what the Lord showed her: Waiting on God means something is happening in the heavenlies before we can proceed. Trust Him. We will lose our strength when we wait upon the event, person or thing to happen, but we will gain strength when we wait upon the Lord.

I have a letter to write and while I'm contemplating its contents and the words are flowing gracefully as I'm thinking about them, when I sit down to begin to write, the words completely escape me. I know in time the words will be just right. For now, however, they're swimming around in my foggy feeling brain and putting pen to paper, or fingertips to keyboard, is pointless.

I, along with others, have gone through a difficult time in our church. There are many I know who no doubt have the same feelings, questions and prayers to God for the same thing. Some are feeling anger and bitterness and a desire to, for lack of better words, make a big stink about what we've all experienced and point fingers. I'm just feeling saddened because of the others and because of the circumstance. I believe the difference between the two types of feelings is one group may have a hard time getting past their anger so we can move forward while the other, which I believe I'm in, wants only to allow God to do the work that is necessary, express support and love, and continue to see what God is going to do next. Waiting upon the Lord.

It's difficult, however, to not know what lies ahead. I think this is especially true for those who are saddened. Some will opt to just walk away from the whole issue and take their grousing somewhere else. All that keeps going through my head, after all I've been writing, is God is in control and He knows the beginning from the end. He is setting things up in the heavenlies. Now is the time to trust Him in the things that I do not see or understand. It's not about anything I can do, except pray and seek God for what is right and true. The only thing we are called to do is love on those who are angry and attempt to soften their words with words that the Lord gives us...or remain totally silent until the words and the timing are just right. Unforgiveness is not an option. No one is perfect--and who can possibly be the first to cast a stone?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 tells us: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

If this doesn't speak volumes. We will endure hard times. And then there will be good ones. Through it all we are to praise God. Praise Him for what He's going to do next and praise Him for what He's given us in the past. Praise Him for the moment and the peace He will bring after a time of grief. Psalm 30:5 tells us: For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

There are times when we must endure death, tearing down, mourning, letting go, warring and all those things that bring weeping but then after a time the joy returns and the rebuilding begins, the laughing, life and peace return. Sometimes things just need to break in order to be fixed. We are called to stand firm in those times. I believe we are being tested. How will we react toward all this? Will we do as God desires or will we turn our backs? I pray we all react exactly as He would have us...and we must continue to wait upon the Lord.

If we have God by our side the anguish will not last forever. Our Lord brings hope if we stick close to Him and trust in Him during the times we cannot even express our emotions. God knows what we feel and He will test us in these difficult times. Tears may flow and questions left unanswered, but God's love never fails. He's there to comfort us. For those whose hearts have been hardened into anger and unforgiveness, I believe His comfort may not come as soon. They need to let Him heal their hearts the way He knows how. We are in a time where God is setting in place more pieces of His puzzle and in time He will proceed. We do not know where God is taking us, but we must trust Him just the same while we wait on Him.

Mark 3:5 - And when He had looked around at them [Pharisees] with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his [withered] hand was restored as whole as the other.