But those who wait on 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 40:30-31, NKJV).

 

            I love those two verses in Isaiah, don’t you? They were among the first I memorized as a new believer several decades ago. But I must admit that I loved them because I focused on the “mount up with wings like eagles” image, skimming right over that “wait on the LORD” part.

Oh, I know, like most of you I’ve heard the teaching about how mother eagles start removing the soft feathers from their babies’ nest to make that safe haven less and less comfortable until trying to fly becomes more appealing than remaining where they are. I understood that sometimes God has to make our personal comfort zones a little more uncomfortable before we’ll accept the challenge to soar to greater heights. But I still ignored the “wait on the LORD” part. I mean, seriously, who wants to wait any longer or more often than we already do?

We wait in checkout lines at the grocery store; we wait in waiting rooms to be called in to see the doctor and then wait somewhere in a tiny cubicle with an average temperature of 37 degrees until he arrives; we wait for test results, letters, phone calls, emails, a knock on the door, our meal to arrive at our table via the waiter…the list is endless. But most of that waiting is done because we have no choice if we want to receive the desired results.

How is that different from waiting on God? It isn’t. If we want to soar like eagles, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint, we MUST wait on the LORD—no matter how long it takes. And that’s tough in our instant-gratification culture.

This truth seems especially relevant as we begin the New Year. I, for one, would like nothing better than to soar with the eagles this year, but it may be that God wants me to spend more time waiting before that happens. And while I’m waiting, I just may find myself pecking and poking around with the turkeys and chickens instead. But if that’s where God wants me to wait, then wait I must, for waiting on Him is the prerequisite for soaring with the eagles.

May you all be encouraged this year when you find yourself waiting yet again…still…seemingly forever…until God pulls that last feather from the nest and releases you to soar. Because He is faithful and always on time, and because His plans for us are so much better than our own, I promise you that it will all be worth the wait.