Isaiah 40:31

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

This verse was in two devotions today, two. That means I should pay attention, right? some translations say "trust" instead of "wait". When I read the translation with "trust", my attention wasn't stirred. But when I read the same verse with the translation "wait", it got my attention.

You see, I trust God. I firmly believe that He will take care of me to use for His purposes and to prepare me for life in eternity with Him. But it never occurred to me that one manifestation of my trust was waiting for God. Psalm 40:1 which was also part of my devotional reading today says "I waited patiently for the LORD..." I'm thinking that the point I'm supposed to get today is that even though I say I trust the Lord, I am not demonstrating that with my actions and thoughts.

I think there is a difference between waiting for someone or waiting on someone. Yes, I know this is subject to the circumstances but there is a difference in attitude. When I wait on someone, I can become impatient, tapping my fingers in irritation, trying to hurry them along. Picture me ahead of the one I'm waiting on with a hurry-up-and-come-here stance. Impatient, rushing, pushing for action or a response, acting as though this is time wasted.

But when I wait for someone, I am more prepared to sit a spell, to wait for the right time, to be patient with the person and the wait. I can use the time to ponder and reflect. I come expecting the wait to be worthwhile instead of time-wasting, that the person and the wait are worthy of my time. I wait for them to show me what they want, to say what they want in the way they want. "Wait for" is more patient.

I've decided the lesson for me today is that I'm not waiting patiently. I'm trying to rush along to the result, now. I'm trying to get an answer NOW. So, my pledge is to try to wait patiently on the Lord for answers to what comes next, not just in the next few minutes, or days but for the next few years. I don't need to make plans now. I don't need to push for an answer. I need to trust and show that trust by waiting for the Lord. Now, how do I do that? Perhaps another day's devotions will have that lesson for me.

Dear Father, I am so sorry for being impatient. I am so sorry for not letting you renew my strength so that I shall run and not be weary;
[I] shall walk and not faint.
Give me the next lesson in your time. In Jesus' name, Amen

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