Waiting

waiting

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.”

Isaiah 55:8 ESV

 

During this church season of advent, we are told about this being a season of waiting.  A time of anticipation, waiting for the arrival of God’s son.  Waiting is something that we are all familiar with.  We wait for results from tests, we wait for job applications to process, to get the call back, we wait, and we get impatient.  God sends a message to his people in the book of Isaiah, a people who were waiting for God to come through on his promises, waiting for the world to be better, waiting for things to get back to the way they were in the good old days.  In their impatience God speaks to remind them although they may have hopes and desires of when and how God’s plan will unfold in their lives, God has his own timing and plan for it all.

The first time I read this verse it was discouraging to me, well this is convenient, God has his own plan, and I just need to wait till whenever his plan becomes a reality.  As I read it before I sat down to write this, I found hope in these words.  In the moment my waiting turns into fear, God is in control, He has not forgotten; when my waiting turns to frustration, God feels it, but He knows that His plan is greater, even if I can’t comprehend it right now.  God does not make us wait just to stretch our patience, instead I believe that we wait on God because He plans are often greater and larger than we can comprehend.  We wait on God as a reminder of our dependence on him.   It may not make sense why I have to wait, until later when God’s plan begins to reveal itself.  In the advent season of waiting, as you wait on God for his leading and prompting, I pray that you find encouragement in this verse, reminding us that although God’s plan and timing may not match ours, our lives still hang in the balance of His will.

 

Pastor Bill