“Even the youths shall faint and be weary… 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.”
Isaiah 40:30-31 [KJV]
'Bird' cloud formation over the Flinders Ranges
In my teens, I started having debilitating headaches, dizziness, blurry vision, and abrupt mood swings. After months of uncertainty and medical tests to rule out brain injury or cancer, I was diagnosed with severe migraines. I begged God over and over for healing, or at least a medication that helped. I was angry, miserable, and exhausted. But God didn’t seem to be listening.
One day I read Isaiah 40:31 “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.” I cried. I felt faint when I walked or stood. I hadn’t run for months. I was frustrated by constant cognitive dysfunction, aka brain fog. If I couldn’t walk, how could I soar like an eagle?
By waiting on the Lord.
What does that mean? When and how do you wait?
Waiting on God involves recognising who God is. God isn’t just Creator (v28) and incomparable (v18), He is the good Shepherd (v11). The gods of other religions are typically fickle, selfish creatures who must be flattered or tricked into helping humans. But our God’s mercies “are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23). In Romans 8:28, the Apostle Paul confidently declares “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” Our God will answer and arrange matters for our best.
God will answer. As I waited on God, He revealed that He was going to take me through, not out of, the migraines. I am still in the ‘going through’ stage, learning the truth of 2 Corinthians 12:9a, “And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” We are not God, but we often try to act like we are, thinking we know what job we will have, who we will marry, or what to do next. Ouch. I’ve lost count of how many times I have told God the ‘solution’ to my problem. Are you willing to let go of the plans and dreams you have held for years, to instead embrace the (yet unrevealed) plans of your loving Heavenly Father?
I do not like unknowns; I google places before I visit them for the first time, I have rough goals for the year, prefer long term work contracts, and would rather know bad news than no news. But waiting on God involves accepting current uncertainty. It’s difficult to answer, “I don’t know yet, I’m waiting on God,” when someone asks me about future plans. One person told me, “I’d rather be busy doing something than busy doing nothing.” That’s dangerous. Acting impulsively, giving in to intense emotions because it makes you feel more in control, will lead you into places God does not want you to be. Are you willing to accept God’s timing? Are you prepared to wait, and keep waiting, even as days, months or years pass? It won’t be easy. But God wants us–and enables us–to wait with the patience and focus of an eagle gliding on an air current, knowing that it is only a matter of time before its next meal will appear.
We need to do what we know to be God’s will now. In 2 Chronicles, King Jehoshaphat was outnumbered and besieged by an evil enemy. He prayed desperately and expectantly for God’s help, saying; “Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon Thee,” (2 Chronicles 20:12). The Lord answered miraculously. Why? Jehoshaphat’s confidence in God had been learnt from a life in which he “sought to the Lord God of His father, and walked in His commandments,” (2 Chron 17:4). Do the big little things you know are God’s will, like reading the Bible, attending church, obeying God’s commands and choosing to desire His presence (Psalm 27:4).
Waiting on God does not come naturally to any of us. Sometimes we have our heads down, barrelling through life. Pause. Wait on God, and keep waiting. The Lord wants to teach us to mount up on wings of faith like eagles, and soar on His currents of love and grace.
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