One of my favorite scriptures on the subject of waiting is found in Isaiah 40:29-31. “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.” (ESV)
This passage is full of promise to those in the waiting season. It also identifies the fatigue of waiting. Yet the secret to the waiting process is to ‘wait on the Lord.’ Psalm 27:14 tells us, “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (NIV) The Message translation says it this way, “. . . stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: stay with God.”
The waiting process is a great teacher and often exposes our weaknesses such as being impatient. Abraham and Sarah were given a promise by God that they would have a child. Twenty-five years passed and Abraham is now one hundred years old and Sarah is ninety. They still do not have a child of their own.
Impatience will tempt us to take matters into our own hands. It’s easy to be an arm-chair critic when we have the advantage of knowing how the story ends. But, when we are in the middle of waiting for the fulfillment of our promise, and looking at the impossibility square in the face, we are challenged to either compromise or wait in faith.
Abraham and Sarah faltered but God was faithful. Waiting is not a futile exercise, but a time of building our faith and preparing ourself to receive the promise of God.
Caleb was a man who represented waiting so very well. Caleb’s story starts in Numbers 13. He was a young man of forty and was one of the twelve men chosen by Moses to spy out the promised land. Unfortunately, Joshua and Caleb were met with opposing views by the other ten spies in their group. Caleb spoke up and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it for we are well able to overcome it.” Moses was persuaded to not move forward into the promised land.
Fast forward forty-five years and Caleb is eighty-five and still waiting to receive his inheritance that was promised to him. I am amazed not only by Caleb’s tenacity, but while waiting for his inheritance, the fire in his soul did not diminish! His conversation with Joshua reveals that his waiting was not in vain. He is emboldened to step forward and claim his inheritance that would be passed on to his children and their children. Caleb says in Joshua 14:10-13, “the Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years. I am still strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me out, I have strength now for war and for going and coming. So now, give me this hill country of which the Lord has promised to me. The Lord will be with me to drive out the enemy in the land.” Then Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb for his inheritance.”
Well done, Caleb. He’s my hero for waiting it out in God’s timing.
My friends, let’s be brave and courageous as we wait patiently for the Lord. He will do incredible things in our lives and our faith will grow while we are in the sacred space of waiting.
Deborah McGrew is Executive Assistant at Koinonia Church in Hanford, CA. She can be reached at debm@kchanford.com or 559-582-1528.