The Lord Waits!
Last Tuesday, my friend and I shopped in a crowded store. The signs were there – the crowded parking lot, bumper to bumper shopping carts. My friend and I waited twenty minutes in the checkout lane. What a relief when we finally completed the checkout process.
As another New Year, my 87th, peeks over the horizon, I realize I have often waited. Waiting for many things on earth… in the land of instant coffee, traffic lights and instant electronic communication….I waited, often without patience.
My daughter, Anna, called my attention to this verse and I read with wonder! Isaiah 30:18 – Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.
I read the last sentence over several times. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. And the first phrase…Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you.
To wait – God gives us many opportunities to learn to wait in our lives. I never thought about God having to wait. Yet, there it is….
So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help. Isaiah 30:18
Our Lord God is waiting for us to come to Him – to choose Him. How many years from the eating of the fruit from the tree of good and evil since Adam and Eve have there been? How many generations has our Lord God waited for us to come to Him?
In the fullness of time, Jehovah sent Jesus into the world as a tiny helpless babe. He grew into manhood knowing his purpose. Jesus was tempted just as we are and yet He was found to be without sin. He gave his life on the cross to give us the way to be without sin. Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day. Jesus had victory over death so that we can have victory over death. All this so Jehovah can show us his love and compassion. We have a direct path to come to God through Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit lives within us when we give our hearts to Jesus. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Romans 8:23.
The word Advent means to wait for the beginning. Usually we think of the Advent at Christmas time. There is another Advent that we wait for when we accept Jesus. We begin to wait for the Second Coming of the Jesus the Lord to gather his children home.
As 2016, dawns, what will be your resolution for the New Year? Mine resolution is to live expectantly – awaiting the Second Coming of Jesus. When my Mom was my age now, she taught me how to live expectantly. When she awoke in the morning, she asked God, “What do you have for me to do today?” Open-ended living, listening to God’s voice.
When I opened a Christmas Letter today, I found this verse – Ephesians 3:20 for the year of 2016. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
The Bible is filled with beautiful promises and reassuring verses. It never grows old for me. Answers and encouraging words abound. They fill my heart with hope and joy for the next glorious day in the Lord. His mercies are new every morning. He is faithful and steadfast and unwavering.
† – The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands. Psalm 25:10
† – Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Psalm 36:5
† – I will praise you forever, O God, for what you have done. I will trust in your good name in the presence of your faithful people. Psalm 52:9
† – But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15
† – Peace be with you, dear brothers and sisters, and may God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you love with faithfulness. Ephesian 6:23
Is there any doubt as to Who God is? He is faithful. He loves us all. When we give our hearts to Him, He rejoices. And then we begin our wait eagerly for the Second Advent….the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him. Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. Psalm 62:1,5
Each day, I give my heart to Jesus and listen to Him – This is my New Year commitment.
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