A CALL TO WAIT

Isaiah 25:8-9

He will swallow up death forever, And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people, He will take away from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. And it will be said in that day:

"Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isaiah 25:8-9, NKJV

So much of life seems to be spent waiting. As a kid, you're constantly waiting to be a certain age to be able to participate in certain things. You wait in lines, you wait on people, you wait for a special day to arrive. You wait and wait and wait and wait and wait... will the waiting ever end? And more importantly, will it have been worth it?

Much of the relationship with the Lord is described as a call to wait. We are to wait for the Lord, which is another way of saying we trust Him. Waiting does not mean we are idle in our relationship with God, but that we are actively trusting Him. The need to wait on the Lord arises from the fact that our experience does not currently align with His promises.

We are redeemed people waiting for the completion of redemption. This has been promised to us, and God will bring it about... but right now we wait... we trust... we hope. That day will come... the day when we no longer have to talk about waiting but will be able to speak in past tense and declare that we have waited.

The day of final salvation will come when all our waiting will seem like it has been no more than a few moments. Salvation will be complete, and all the waiting will be over. Yet, until then ... we wait. Not idly, but expectantly. We wait in such a way that declares to the world our great confidence and trust in the Lord who is not idle but actively working toward the day for which we are waiting.

As we face difficult situations ... difficult people ... and difficulties in general, we know that He is always there with us, a strong tower to run to in time of need. A strong pair of arms to hold us and comfort us, and gentle, loving hands that extravagantly place before me a feast of rich food and wine-His Word, His Spirit-to nourish and bless us!!!

Father, thank You for this day and Your amazing grace to walk in it. Lord, pour out Your abundant blessings like a mighty river over us and our family today. Lord, thank You for always being there when we need You ... and even when we think we don't. Lord, we're so glad You've got our backs. Lord, You know what lies ahead for us, what difficulties we will face each coming day, and You've already prepared all that we will need to get through each situation. Lord, we long for the day when death will be swallowed up forever, for the day when "disgrace" is not a word in our vocabulary. Lord, because you have restored honor and dignity, help us to grab hold of all You've laid out on Your beautiful banquet table for me today. Lord, use us to be the light of Your presence to those who come our way.

Father, we love You. Amen !