They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run , and not be weary ; and they shall walk , and not faint . Isaiah 40:31
What does it mean to wait before the Lord? And when we wait what are we waiting for? And epiphany? A vision? A mighty roaring entry of His presence like the train of a robe (as Isaiah describes it)? Or is it something more? Something different?
I have been waiting before God. Not for long. And certainly not in all the ways I could or should. But God has been teaching me to wait. To wait for His perfect timing, to wait for His miracles, to wait for His providence, to wait for His glory. But the beautiful thing is that waiting is not laborious. Thousands of times before it has been difficult, trying and unpleasant. But that was because I was waiting for God to do something for me instead of me simply waiting in the presence of God. I think we have confused the definition for waiting on God to presume a delayed, indefinite, agonizing time of suffering and painful discipline, with the kind of waiting on God which simply sits at His feet and gazes on His beauty. The waiting on God in the present and in His presence and simply finding joy in who He is, is so much better than the waiting on God for some unknown future date and time when He might give us what we want (or think we want).
I have for far too long perceived of prayer as the necessary ‘key’ to get what I want from God. In a crass kind of way I visualized prayer as the the manner in which I would stroke the genie’s bottle in order to get my ‘three wishes’. What a travesty! What a shame! Prayer is not about getting things from God, it is about being with God. Prayer is about living in the midst of God’s glory and realizing that there is no other place you would rather be!
And when you wait on the Lord, He will meet you there. You may not walk away with your circumstances changed or with the shiny, new thing you have begged off of God, but you will leave changed. You will leave fulfilled. And hopefully, prayerfully, you will never leave the presence of the Lord. Yes you may leave the prayer closet, prayer room or sanctuary, but when we abide in the presence of God, may we never leave Him! Oh God may Your glory come and cover me like a robe, like a mighty, never-ending waterfall of Your goodness! Lord may I sit at Your feet a while longer?
Pastor Michael Johnson 