September 19

Who is Waiting?

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalms 105:16-22 | Isaiah 30:12 – 33:12 | Galatians 5:1-12 | Proverbs 23:22

Today’s Scripture Focus: Isaiah 30:12 – 33:12

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you…blessed are all who wait for him” (Isaiah 30:18 ESV).

We do a lot of waiting. God does too. There can be many reasons for the waiting, but this passage reminds us that sometimes the reason we are waiting is because God is waiting for us.

“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you” (30:18). He sometimes waits for us to repent. Sometimes he is teaching us lessons about trust that can be learned no other way. There are lessons in waiting—resting in hope—that can only be learned in the school of waiting (30:15).

Another implication of this text is that God is longing and waiting to bless you, but is waiting for just the right time that he might be most gracious to you. As Wesley Duewel writes: “Waiting on God prepares for greater blessing. God has greater plans than you have realized. Give Him time to do great things. The greater the work He plans, the greater the prayer preparation that may be necessary, including prayer for guidance. God often waits so that He can be even more gracious (Isa. 30:18)” (Wesley Duewel, Let God Guide You Daily, 77).

Waiting brings a greater blessing, as Isaiah reminds us: “Blessed are all those who wait for him” (30:18b). One day the waiting will be over and God will graciously bless us. He is waiting and longing to do that very thing: “The LORD waits (longs) to be gracious to you” (30:18a).

There may be some acts of obedience left undone. There may be some sin yet to be repented of. We may have heard his voice behind us saying “this is the way walk in it” (30:21) and we have been reluctant to follow. In each case there is something we can do, God is waiting on us to take a step.

Sometimes God is waiting on others. The whole nation was in need of “turning back to God’ for these promises to be fulfilled. We can pray for our church family, our nation, and our world. Pray and wait.

But most of the time he is teaching us how to trust Him in the dark—to press ahead in trust when we struggle to understand the path ahead. Don’t be discouraged in the process. Remember that he is gracious and he longs to bless you when the time is right.

Father, walk with me on this path and help me to press ahead even when I don’t know where I am going—even when I’m not able to sense your presence. When I am forced to wait, strengthen me with the faith to persevere. When I am causing you to wait, help me to find courage to take steps of obedience. When I am in a mysterious holding pattern, fill me with wisdom and hope that the day will come when the way will open. I wait in hope. Amen.