Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
²⁹ He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
³⁰ Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
³¹ but they who wait for 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.

Isaiah 40:28-31 (ESV)

Does anyone like to wait?

I know it’s a struggle for me. I feel restless. I feel frustrated when things don’t happen in my timing. I started questioning what I am doing or not doing. I get into a “make it happen” mindset.

Something is amiss and I need to make it right.

Usually those attempts to “make it right” don’t pan out. More often, those attempts make things worse and lead to setbacks.

Have you been there?

Well, what does God’s word say about waiting?

But they who wait for 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.

Isaiah 40:31 (ESV)

God sees the big picture. He can see the future. He can see what is coming. He sees you now too.

One of my favorite stories in the Old Testament is the story of God “seeing” Hagar.

So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.”
14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered.

Genesis 16:13-14 (ESV)

Hagar calls God, El Roi, “the God who sees me.” She is in a tough spot. Sarai tells Abram to sleep with her servant, Hagar, and she gets pregnant. Then Sarai gets upset with Hagar and she runs away. Sarai and Abram took things into her own hands so they could have an heir. God promised them a son, a son from Sarai’s womb. Sarai was in her mid-seventies and Abram was in his eighties.

Hagar is off by herself in the desert hiding from Sarai and Abram. That is when God shows up.

He finds her out on her own by the spring on the way to Shur.

He speaks into her situation. He tells her to return to Sarai and Abram and He speaks about the child, Ishmael, who she will birth.

And the angel of the Lord said to her,

“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction.

Genesis 16:11 (ESV)

God is there for us in our time of need. When we are weak, then we are strong. We stop trying to do everything ourselves, in our own power, in our own understanding, and we wait. We wait for the Lord to show up. We put things in His hands.

That is when we have renewed hope and strength. That is when we see God move in power in our lives.

Hold on. Keep the faith. Wait for the Lord to move. Do not give up hope!