When God is Waiting

Have you ever thought about the fact that sometimes God is waiting on you? When I think of waiting, usually the first thing that comes to my mind is what I am waiting for. Maybe it is something I have been praying for, an opportunity, or an unfulfilled desire. Often I think I am waiting on God, but really, most of the time He is patiently waiting for me.

Listen to what God says to the people of Israel in Isaiah 30, “Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.” (Isaiah 30:18 NASB) If God is longing to be gracious to us and waiting to show us compassion, what is stopping Him? The answer is simple – we are. Our self-sufficiency, our wrestling, and our constant activity is keeping God waiting.

Here in Isaiah 30, we read that God was offering rest to His people but they were not willing. Think about that for a minute. God was longing to help, but His people were not willing to receive that help. From what I can tell, it wasn’t that they didn’t want what God was offering. In fact, they were looking for peace and safety. The problem was that they weren’t willing to surrender to God’s way.

God’s people wanted God’s blessings without listening to God. But it just doesn’t work that way – not for the people of Israel many years ago and not for us today. To experience God’s rest, God’s favor, or God’s power we have to surrender to God’s way.

The challenge is God’s way is so often counterintuitive to our way.  In order to experience God’s rest, we need to retrain our thinking.

We need to know that rest and repentance bring rescue. “In repentance and rest you will be saved.” (Isaiah 30:15 NASB)

This makes me think of rescuing a drowning person. Most of the time someone who is drowning is fighting hard to keep their head above water, so they are thrashing about. In this state, it is almost impossible for someone to rescue them. But when they pass out from exhaustion, then a rescuer can take them to safety.

Repentance is allowing God to rescue us. It is saying, God, you are right and I am wrong.

We have a choice, we can either surrender to God’s rest or we can fight. When we fight, taking things in our own hands we leave God waiting. He is right there watching us struggle, longing to take over, but we are not willing.

We also need to know that strength comes from a quiet spirit. “In quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15 NASB)

God wants us to realize that strength is about what is happening on the inside, not what is happening on the outside. We often falsely associate spiritual strength with externals.  We focus on hard work, ability, critical thinking or so many other things we think make us strong. The truth is no matter how hard we work, how capable we are, or how much we know, none of that will bring us inner peace or strength.

The reverse is also true. If we are quiet and calm internally, no matter what occurs outside of us we will remain steady. True inner strength is not changed by external circumstances. This is because our trust is not in what happens around us but in God alone.

God always blesses those who look to Him. “For the LORD is a God of justice; how blessed are those who long for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18 NASB)

Today, God is waiting to bless you. Maybe you cannot see how He is working, maybe you don’t understand, maybe you want to give up. Find hope in God. When you look to Him and wait on Him you can be sure He will pour out His blessings on you. Maybe it won’t be in the way you are anticipating, but you can be sure He is ready and willing to rescue you and provide you with His inner strength.