The following is the response to the devotional that started this whole silly thing!!
It was speaking of the scripture verse Isaiah 41:10... “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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.”
The blog ended with this...
Spend some time reflecting over these verses. What does it mean to "wait on the Lord?" What does it mean that our strength will be "increased" and "renewed?"
The following is my response..
I am embarrassed about the book that I just wrote below regarding this subject but obviously this is something that has been near and dear to my heart recently and I thought I would share it with you…
The song was going over and over in my head just the other day…
“Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord… we will wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord.”
In which when you get something like that in your head it can be hard to get out (Thank God!).. But I started to think what “waiting” really meant and why God makes us “wait” so much.
Waiting does not mean standing idle, it does not mean doing nothing. For me waiting is first of all complete submission. Realizing it is not about ME and that His timing and His plan is so perfect.
Why does He want us to wait… One reason is to grow in character.. learn patience, submission, unconditional joy, or the PEACE that He speaks of the surpasses our understanding. I also think he so badly wants us to be waiting ON Him. Dumb analogy coming up but go with me for a sec… I imagine my dog (FYI: I am NOT a dog lover!) but if my dog sees me and knows I have a treat for her she is not going to take her eyes off me or leave my side until she gets it. Isn’t this what God wants of us? He so longs for us to always be right by His side, keeping our eyes on Him at all times and as we do so learning more and more about Him and His desires, His plans, His perfect ways. He longs for us to long for Him.
Oh man books and books could be written on this subject but I want to share with you how I have learned about “waiting on the Lord” just recently..
These last few years I have had the privileged of being with my father as we “waited” on the Lord together. Two years ago he was diagnosed with ALS, a progressive neurological illness that is basically a life sentence when you get the diagnosis due to no cure. Yet Dad had incredible faith and we prayed and waited on the Lord for healing and more importantly for His will to be done. My daily prayer these last few years have been, “Lord, You know the desires of my heart but I submit to your will.” I really don’t think there has been another time in my life that I have questioned, longed to be close to, cried out to, or just waited on the Lord than these past few years.
It has been an incredible year of peace, joy, pain and life lessons! Watching my father battle and then sir come to the disease of ALS was almost indescribable. I am sure we have not even begun to discover most of the lessons that he taught us throughout this horrific battle. Weekly something happens that I can relate back to a lesson that was learned or still being discovered. I praise God for all the blessings that he has given to us along the way of all the pain. His hand really was so evident in it all as we waited on Him.
One lesson in particular was the lesson of my father’s eyes. Towards the end of Dad’s life, ALS had robbed him not only of his ability to walk, lift his arms, use his hands, his ability to eat but also his ability to talk. The one thing this disease did not touch was Dad’s eyes.
Dad did such an amazing job communicating even up to the very end with just his eyes. Oh sure when he wanted to get a specific word it took us awhile to figure it out but we always really knew what he was thinking! Dad’s EYES said it all!! At the grave sight we all spoke about this. Dad always had these amazing eyes. And at the end he used them to the fullest. It is amazing what one wink could say! I could look at Dad and he would ask an entire question without saying a word? I knew when he wanted to know about each of the grand kids. I knew when he wanted me to give him a play by play of Luke’s last football game. But most of all I knew just by looking into his eyes when He just was saying I LOVE YOU! Wow.. How loved we all felt with a single wink. With a single wink each of knew he was saying we were his favorite.
But there ways something much more important about Dads eyes. Dad ALWAYS, ALWAYS had his eye set in the right direction.
Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. 26 Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. Prov. 4:25-27
Dad lived his life very intentionally. He always knew where he was going and what his ultimate goal was! Even until the very end! Just like Peter who could walk on water as long as he was looking at Jesus …but the second he took his eye off of Him he began to sink!
Isn’t it amazing how we can see this in our own lives? We do not have to stop doing what we are doing here on this earth.. like school work and house work, our jobs, or our rest and fun times, but with whatever we do the important thing is to always keep our eyes on Him!. WAIT ON HIM! Don’t leave His side!
“ …. Don’t get sidetracked: keep your feet from following evil.”
What a privilege it is to be able to WAIT on the Lord. What Joy it is to “go through trials of many kind” so that we can learn to keep our eyes on the Lord from where our strength comes from!
Towards the end of Dad’s life his body had withered away to almost nothing. He went from this big, huge muscular man who played in the NFL 16 years including 4 Super Bowls and was known as being one of the toughest players on the field to the point where he could be lifted by one of his daughters to put him in bed. But in the end because my father always had his eyes in the right direction and because he continued to wait on the Lord it was during these times my father was the strongest. He showed us where his true strength came from.
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 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.” Isaiah 40:28-31
Dad died Sept. 23rd and the pain and loss is a fresh as ever but this too I thank God for. For it is a constant reminder how much I can not continue on without Him. How much I really do need to wait on him and seek His strength in my life daily. THis is my prayer for myself, my husband, my children and everyone around us. My we all continue to learn to keep our eyes in the right direction and truly “WAIT” on the Lord.
I lift up my eyes to the hills- Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalms 121
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