Wait...WHAT....

Waiting is more than just doing nothing…

Isaiah 40:29-31 (NASB) 29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. 30 Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, 31 Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

For so many people, growing weary, feeling as if you can not take another step, is just a normal day.  This feeling of weariness does not just only happen once or twice in our lives, it happens often.  No matter how strong someone is, no matter how much rest someone gets, at some point in our lives we feel tired, worn out, weary.  The good news for a Christian is that we have so many promises from God regarding Him being our strength when we are weak.  Isaiah 40:29-31 is not exempt from this.  We often hear this verse, mainly the part that says, those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength.  Why wait?  What does this word, wait, even mean?  Does it mean to just sit down and wait on Him, like a husband waiting on his wife to come down the stairs to leave for their date?  Is it like waiting on a child to clean their room, or even worse, waiting for our favorite season to come around (ie. Christmas…). Most of us are hoping that is not what this word means, for it can seem like some these things may never happen.  When the prophet Isaiah used the word, wait, it carried a way different meaning to the hearers of this word compared to our understanding.  This word, wait, carries the idea of one that would look for, hope, or expect.  This word also carries the idea of being bound together (by twisting).  Think about that for a second.  Those that look for the Lord, hope in the Lord, expect in the Lord, or even better those that are bound together with Him, that is by being intertwined with Him, these people will gain new strength.  So, now the question is, how do we do this.  While many want to look for some deep revelation of how to do this, there really is not some deep mystery, or secret to this.  In Luke 10:38-42 we see an interesting encounter involving Mary, Martha and Jesus.  Martha was distracted, or as we would say, busy doing life.  Nothing wrong with what she was doing, in fact many would argue that what she was doing needed to be done.  How many of us understand the response Martha had, when her sister, Mary, was just sitting there doing nothing.  She was so upset with Mary, she actually went and complained to Jesus about what her sister was doing, or really in this case, not doing.  If you are going to complain about someone not pulling their weight, there is no one better to go then Jesus, right?  Now if you know this account then you know that the response that Jesus gives is not the response we want to hear.  He tells her what she needs to hear.  He tells her that she is worried (same word used in Matthew 6:25-34), AND bothered.  Martha is anxious, and you could almost say a little fearful.  Fearful, in that the work that needs to be done, the work to serve Jesus, will not be done, at least if Mary continues to sit there doing nothing.  The word, bothered, here carries the idea of one being disturbed, or you could even say in an uproar, an uproar to the point where she is about to riot.  Why?  Why is Martha so disturbed?  Simply put, because work needs to be done.  We all have been there, felt that way, and probably just like Martha have cried out, asking for Jesus to doing something about those good for nothing, lazy people, telling us about their quiet time, their one on one time at the feet of Jesus.  You would think Jesus would jump to her rescue, yet He did not.  Jesus says to Martha, Mary has chosen the good thing (some translations say Mary chose the better thing), and this will not be taken from her.  Sitting down at the feet of Jesus is better than serving Jesus?  Seriously, did Jesus fall and bump His head?  Is Jesus against working?  Is He against serving?  Of course not!  Jesus is telling Martha, and at the same time us, that before we run ourselves into the ground, we need to learn to sit at His feet.  Sitting at His feet will give us the strength we will need.  Pausing and sitting at His feet will give you the strength you need to serve Him by serving others.  If all you do is serve and never sit, you will get weary and frustrated!  You could even say, by sitting and listening to The Word, this is what will give us new strength.  This is one of the ways that we can get intertwined with Him.  When we tell ourselves that it is better to take some time and just quietly sit at His feet and listen to His voice, then we will find the strength we need to do all the jobs we need to do.  Easier said than done?  YEP, but that does not make it any less true.  When we run around and never sit down and listen to Him we will find ourselves worried and disturbed, and this will cause us to grow tired, and become weak.  So the next time you find yourself feeling weak, tired, and maybe even a little frustrated with all that is on your list, ask yourself; is it better for me to get mad and yell out to God that we need help, or is it better for me to set down what needs to be done and sit down at His feet and listen to His voice?  Allow His strength, thru His words, to give you new strength.  He knows the work that needs to get done, but He also knows that it would be better for us to sit and be intertwined with Him.  So before doing, just wait...Much love Pastor Michael