What Does It Mean To “WAIT” On The Lord?

I have to confess I hate waiting in line at stores or restaurants, especially at the checkout line to pay the bill. The other day I was at the checkout line at Cracker Barrel and a lady before me was paying for her meal and buying some gift items. The checker was messing up her bill and had to ring her bill up several times with multiple tickets – O brother! I have just started walking with my special boot since my left foot Achilles surgery and I gave the bill to my wife and walked outside to sit down because I can’t stand long in one place.

Needless to say even when I am healthy I still don’t like to wait, so the whole concept of waiting often frustrates me. God, unlike many of us and me included, seems to have a lot more patience waiting for us to respond to his invitations or instructions. However there are times when even God’s patience wears thin and he has to provide motivators to get us to make up our minds about what we want to do, follow him or something else.

In the book of Isaiah God says he had to bring hardship and suffering to Israel because of their stubbornness and sin, and yet he still offers a way of redemption from both their rebellion and their suffering. He tells Israel that in repentance and rest they will be saved. I get the repentance thing but what does he mean by “REST”? 

In the following sentence God defines the rest he is talking about. He talks about in “QUIETNESS & TRUST” they will find strength to overcome. In other words he is saying when people truly repent they start trusting God and find rest for their souls. In that rest or quietness of soul they (we) stop striving against the will of God and embrace it. The sad thing is Israel refused to take God’s advice and remained stubborn against God’s will. By the way, the word “REST” is like the idea of a lawyer finishing his oral arguments: “I rest my case, judge.” In other words, I have finished my debating and no longer have need of any more information or questions.

Isaiah 30:15

For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said,

“In repentance and rest you will be saved,

In quietness and trust is your strength…..”But you were not willing,

A few verses later God tries to reassure the Jewish people that in fact he longs to be gracious, even though he has brought pain and suffering to them. God then says that he “WAITS” to have compassion on his people. He truly wants to intervene, yet people’s attitudes and behavior have stopped his compassion from happening. Amazing when you think how our choices often determine the outcome with God. Consider Psalms 37:

Psalms 37:7

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

This waiting David instruction is not passive but active waiting, like when a parent says to their children, “We are going on vacation tomorrow” so the children wait with anticipation for the arrival of tomorrow! Our waiting is when we are focused on God’s will and purpose rather than on ours.

Have you ever found yourself  wanting God to move compassionately while you were in a bad mood and resisting his will? I know I have at times, and usually it takes me having to experience some kind of pain to get myself to see that God waits for me (us) because I (we) “REFUSE TO WAIT”  on and for him. If we don’t want to rest in the will of God we will find ourselves in opposition to God and his will, which is sin.

When we desire to walk “JUSTLY”  he is free to move compassionately. Our choice often determines his choice because he has defined what releases blessing or cures ahead of time.

Isaiah 30:18

Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,

And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.

For the LORD is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.

Consider again a few verse later where God says people will finally hear God and not shut out his voice in their lives, and then we will know when to turn to the right or the left in our life’s journey. Our waiting enables us to course correct when necessary.

Isaiah 30:21

Your ears will hear a word behind you,

“This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus starts denouncing different cities because many miracles had been done in them and yet they refused to believe or change their ways. In the midst of this condemnation he turns to his followers and makes a profound statement about rest. He states that in order to “REST” in God we have to exchange our purpose for living and take Jesus’ purpose. The resting is in accepting God’s perspective on life and direction. To do so requires letting go of ours. This is not easy, but by trusting Jesus more than ourselves it’s possible.

Matthew 11:29-30

“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

As followers of Christ we need to regularly seek the Lord to determine if we have stayed on the path of God’s will, or deviated from it. Drifting from the purpose and will of God is easy to do, and if we drift too far it’s hard to course correct even if we really want to. “RESTING” in the will of God is not a passive thing but rather an active thing.

Are You Resting or Resisting?

Questions:

1) Do you find waiting on God difficult? One of the best things to do is get disconnected from your busy life and find a field, meadow, forest, sea shore or some place that doesn’t require your attention and start talking to God and then being still enough to hear his voice.

2) Do you find trusting God’s plan for your life difficult? God designed our lives to be governed by our reason and logic. However, if all the facts you have are selfish ones you will never yield to God completely. Start by getting into a schedule of time where you read the gospels. I’m not talking about 15 minutes in the morning I’m talking about at least a half-hour time slot every day until you get the big picture of God’s purpose.

Loving the word of God that trains my hand for spiritual war,

Pastor Dale