Isaiah 40:27 says, “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: ‘My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God’?” There are times when we think, God where are you? What are you doing? This is not fair! Do you ever feel passed over or question why God is making you wait? Verses 29-30 say, “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall….” Be encouraged today that God helps those who’ve come to the end of themselves. His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
Why do we even get to the point where we ask God these questions? The point where we feel like maybe we’ve been ignored? According to this passage, the first reason is ignorance. Verse 28 says, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.” We have to get our eyes off of ourselves and on to Him. He never gets tired or weary. Notice the word “everlasting.” God has always been and always will be. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He was in all my yesterdays and He will be in all my tomorrows. He is not unsettled by clocks and calendars. He is never late and never early. He is the Creator of the ends of the earth. He is in charge all the time everywhere. His understanding is beyond us. God knows what He is doing even when we don’t understand what He is doing. While you are waiting God is working (Rom. 8:28).
The second reason seems to be inaction. Verse 31 says, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength….” Wait does not mean to do nothing. It means to trust, hope, expect. The same word is used in Psalm 27:14, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” Just because you were hoping, trusting, and expecting last year or 20 years ago, does not mean you are today. What are you doing today? Renew means to exchange. We lean hard on Jesus. He exchanges our weakness for His strength. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13).
What do we do while we wait? Cling to three promises found in verse 31, “…they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
Soar Above It– God Will Give You Visibility
God will enable you to see your wait from His viewpoint. He will give you His vision. One day in hindsight you will be able to understand the why behind the wait. In the meantime, God is doing something in you. If you take care of God’s business, God will take care of your business. There are plenty of examples in the Bible where people waited on the Lord. God’s delays are not His denials. God does something in you before He does something for you. The only thing worse than waiting is wishing you had. There is so much significance to the illustration of an eagle, but one thing about an eagle is that while most birds flee storms, the eagle seems to long for it because it enables him to soar higher than he can in normal conditions. At different times of our lives, we are all going to face storms. As we wait on the Lord and trust the Lord, He will not only take us through the storm, but He will actually lift us above the storm. God enables us to rise above it.
Run to it – God Will Give You Vitality
“…They shall run and not be weary….” God will give you the energy you need. He’ll enable you to go further than you thought you could go. He will give you the ability to keep on going. God created the human body with adrenaline that releases in the emergency hours of life. You can do things you never thought you could do. When you are zapped of your strength, God will enable you to run. Run, not from God, but to Him.
Walk Through It – God Will Give You the Victory
“…They shall walk and not faint.” It is harder to keep on walking than it is to fly or run. Walking is the daily grind. It is one thing to mount up with wings as eagles. It is one thing to run in the excitement.
It is another to walk day after day. If you will wait on the Lord, He will give you the kind of staying power that will help you to keep walking when you don’t think you can take another step. Real victory is not in how fast you can run, but how far you can walk.
One of my favorite quotes by Charles Spurgeon says, “God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. So when you don’t understand, when don’t see his plan, when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.” You can trust His heart today in your wait!