Isaiah 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But 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.
Can this title be applied to you? Are you a waiter? Can you say “I am a patient person”? When others look at you do they say it? We have features that stand out but we need a mindset to wait on the Lord. Patience isn’t a knack you get. Leon has a knack for playing the guitar. Donna can play the piano. Gary drives a tractor trailer but Donna can’t. I can’t. Patience is something we all need.
Love, faith, peace. Yes, we need them. But patience is in that list. It’s shown as longsuffering. We have trouble with patience in today’s society. Technology doesn’t help. We can search for anything and get an answer in seconds and it used to take a long time to find the answer to a question. When you google something you get multiple answers. With God we look into his Word and get one answer. He teaches us a lot that we need to be patient. We want our prayers answered today. If not, we run out of patience. We need to work on it every day.
People have trouble being a waiter. That word brings to mind going to a restaurant and watching waitresses carry in trays of heavy food and drinks. They know how to be waiters. We learn early on as God’s people to cultivate waiting on the Lord. If something is his will to be answered instantly he will; others times it isn’t. I’ve heard people ask why hasn’t God answered my prayer. The key is that he hasn’t answered it yet. He always answers and we have to wait on his schedule. God has to stretch his patience with us. If anyone has a right to be impatient, it is God. He knows what we can do six months from now but he knows what we can do now.
Let’s be those who wait on the Lord. More sin is committed for lack of patience than anything. The devil will supply a fast track answer. Verse 30 says even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. We’re all vulnerable to impatience. We have a connection with God and it’s not the internet. It is Jesus. He came down and paid the way with his own blood. The connection is instant and when he decides to answer, he’ll send the messenger. Sometimes we just have to wait. There are times that UPS or USPS fails to deliver. God will answer and we have to accept that answer. Don’t try his patience. He is longsuffering toward us but it can run out. He might give us what we want but send a switch with it. It’s not what we want that matters; it’s what he wants for us. James tells us that we don’t always know what to pray for. God’s will is what we want. We need to pray for that. We get impatient and should ask forgiveness.
Are we beyond being taught as Christians? We are disciples of Jesus and that means a learner as well as follower. They called Jesus their Master. In the Jewish culture that meant he was their teacher. How we need his teaching. There is more patience in us than we realize. It just needs to come out. God is not a waiter to us. We are to wait on him. Patience is waiting upon the Lord. When we do we find the promise in verse 31. 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.
Do you agree we all need patience? The key is to receiving the answer from the Lord is to wait. Are you at the end of your rope? Jesus is there. Be patient. Wait a little longer. When we wait, we’re getting patience along the way. It’s what we learn from serving the Lord. Abraham and Sara learned it. Many others learned it the hard way. When we wait we can overcome the devil and our flesh. We can walk with assurance in victory.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 