Wait
“But those who wait on the Lord
shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.” ~Isa 40:31
This scripture has been a song in my heart for a few months now. The thing that has stuck out to me is the word wait. How can I wait on the Lord? So many people confuse waiting with doing nothing and seeing what happens. As I looked up what it means to “wait,” this is what I read according to Merriam Webster as a verb “to wait” means: “to stay in expectation of.”
Think about that, to wait in expectation of; that means heart filled with hope and prospect that something you’re expecting will happen.
I don’t know about you, but I look forward to date night. With the demands of work, children, and sometimes ministry obligations, my husband and I have learned to make our marriage a priority by carving out date nights every month. But, let’s be honest, it can be easy to neglect our spouses in the day-to-day business of life.
We decided to set our dates in the calendar and honor those days with no excuses to prevent that from happening.
As those days come, Matt and I get excited in anticipation of our alone time. Most date nights, we run out of the house and decide what to do as we are pulled out of the driveway in a blind fury to escape phone calls and “momtruptions.”
However, other evenings I’ll get a text, “find something nice to wear for our date this week we have reservation” When I get those texts, something in me comes alive. Thoughts relentlessly race through my mind of how I plan to ready myself in such a way that I have my husband’s undivided attention the entire evening.
It will be a memorable evening—something he planned ahead of time just for us. My heart leaps with excitement and anticipation of what is to come.
I shop with excitement and vision, ensuring my ensemble has just the right vibe. My hair should be on point; jewelry is delicate yet enticing. Every time I walk past Matt, my perfume should seduce his senses. Yes, I plan it perfectly and then wait for that evening to arrive.
Why would I go through all that trouble, one may ask? Simple because the chase is fun. A deep desire peaks at the opportunity to entice my husband as if we were newlywed. To see the spark in his eye while we playfully flirt across the dinner table. The sly, mischievous smile screams his desire for me in silence and tender touches that set all nerve endings on high alert.
Evenings like those can be magical, reigniting dry places in a marriage, restoring what busy schedules and demanding children have robbed from you. In one night, you’ve recharged the relationship, and your intimacy burns with life, and through the process, we waited.
If we can wait and meticulously prepare for a romantic evening with our spouse trusting and knowing the outcome will be beautiful. Why do we have a hard time waiting on God in these same dry places we try to hide? The areas we have no control over? (like reservations we knew nothing about but prepared for)
Places of transition, pain, anxiety, or loss. The areas we desperately need answers to while the pressure of life continues to bear down on us, trapping us under the weight of uncertainty. Why do we feel the need not to prepare but to control and take matters into our own hands?
We can say it’s simply fear of the unknown. However, I would say even fear of the unknown stems from the same place, lack of trust.
Jer 29:11 Says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Life is full of both challenges and expectations. We try so hard to achieve greatness in all we do. We want to be great moms, wives, employees, or business owners. The problem is that not all things have straightforward ways to achieve greatness or stability. Babies don’t come with directions on their feet on caring for them and not fail. Being a wife does not come with a handbook on how to combine two different worlds and make them one in perfect unity all the time. Life does not come with a guide on preparing for a loss of a parent or loved one. Yet all these things are a part of our life. We feel like we should have them under control, but when something goes wrong, we are shaken and feel as though we are left sailing through dark waters with no light.
We desperately try to find our way out while angry waves slam against our boat, rocking us from side to side, tossed by confusion and surrounded by options that don’t guarantee us the safety of solid ground. Yet we still fight the storms; we continue to take the wheel in our hand and fight until we are shipwrecked. Then looking around, I wonder why we are there.
It does not have to be that way. Do we not prepare for the evening when our spouse surprises us with reservations somewhere? Can you imagine how the evening would go if we came out of our room dressed in yoga pants, hair tossed back in what once resembled a ponytail while he was dressed to impress. Can you imagine the look on his face if you said: “ok, let’s go? I decided it would be better to grab a burger and coffee instead. I am not sure ill like where you were heading, so I changed the plans.”
I could be wrong, but I am willing to bet most women would be more than happy to be surprised with a romantic evening out. The thought of taking over his special night or imposing our agenda would never cross our minds. Why? Because our spouse knows us, loves us, wants to draw close to us, and bless and protect us.
So how much more does the Lord? If we can change our perspectives from the problems storming around us to the God that goes before us, we will remember his promises. We may not know all that lies ahead, but He does, and even when things are grim, unstable, uncertain, and scary, if we trust the Lord and wait on him, he will renew our strength; he will give us clarity, direction, and peace because His love for us is more profound than the love of our spouse. All we have to do is trust him and wait.
