While We Wait

No one likes to wait. We all struggle with time and waiting. Time moves slowly when we need an answer to something. Everyone knows it takes 9 months for a baby to be born. Those 9 months can feel like forever to the expecting parents and family. We never lose the hope of delivery. The joy when the child finally arrives is like none that can be explained. Much in the same way, if a child is born prematurely there is fear and extra time needed for the child to be strong and healthy to go home.

It can be the same with prayers and waiting for God to move. Timing and maturity can make all the difference in how the answer helps or hinders. Just as we cannot rush the natural process, we cannot rush God’s. Time cannot be rushed.

There’s shifting and shaking taking place, it’s here but there’s more to come. We wait expectantly and for some unsure about the next move. The only way we will be standing and remain secure through it all is to spend time with Him.

The word says Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Psalms 34:8
Time. Savor. Taste.

There is a difference between hearing and listening. We may be hearing but are we listening? And what are we listening to? What has our ear?

We must learn to turn off the chatter, I encourage you to turn off the chatter. There is lots of chatter out there today. Trust me I know, because I decipher it. Daily. That’s something I’ve been called to do. I’m a watchman on the wall. A forerunner. A call and responsibility I do not take lightly.
It’s so easy to get caught up in all of it. If not for my time alone with God, I could lose sight of the bigger picture. Kingdom and Souls.

One thing we don’t do or are taught very much today is to Linger. Lament. Tarry. Wait. Travail.
We must cultivate a culture of spending time with Him, and as you do, you will find Him waiting for you. Because He waits for us. We rush, rush, rush because we live in a busy, busy, go, go world. We live in a fast-food instant world. We want what we want and we want or expect it now. We have places to go and things to do.
 
How much time do we devote to God? Did you know a tenth of 24 hours is 2 hours and 40 minutes? We get big-eyed with that yet think nothing of spending that much time watching a movie, shopping, or doing other things we’ve deemed important.

He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. The greatest reward is simply the privilege of connecting with Him.

One definition of linger is "to leave slowly and hesitantly."
If you don't find yourself leaving God's presence slowly and hesitantly, there's a short somewhere in the connection. When you truly connect with Him, it's like a warm bed on a wintery morning - you don't want to leave it.
Regular visitors to the throne of grace become lingerers, pure and simple. Talk to Him slowly, listen to Him slowly, and leave Him slowly. Our Father has plenty of time for us and loves it when we linger in His presence. His biggest problem is the limited time we set aside with Him, not our lingering.
We are often in such a hurry we want Him to listen fast. He isn't our spiritual Santa Claus, where we sit two minutes on His lap, give Him our wish list, and be on our way.
He is Abba Father. Our Father is not easily offended. He is patient and long-suffering, and His loving-kindness is everlasting. I wonder if we expect Him to listen fast and perform quickly.

I once read someone say they believe the Lord told him, "Don't defile My presence with your impatience”. That will leave a mark.

For it is in His presence that intimacy is created. It’s in His presence that prayers are heard. It’s in His presence that we learn the heart of the Father. Curl up in His lap and let Him love and care for you. For He waits for you.

David was a lingerer; he loved being in God's presence and he left slowly and hesitantly. David once said, "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple" Psalm 27:4

Notice the words dwell, behold, and meditate. Those are lingering terms. He also said, "O Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells" Psalm 26:8

You don't make statements like that unless you've learned to linger. We learn to linger, then He beckons and waits for us, and we learn to linger. Listen to David's language: "I love the habitation of Your house." 

Observing David and his walk and relationship with God during the good, the bad, and the ugly can be revealing to his heart and pursuit of God’s heart and the relationship they held.

David kept it real, sharing with God his most intimate thoughts. Whether he was joyful, discouraged, lonely, winning, or losing, David talked to the Lord about it. He knew God wanted to be involved in his world, and he wanted to be in God’s. Eventually, a change came in their relationship, a change so subtle that most people never think about it. The intimate closeness they shared became real and comes to life in scripture. Many people love God's presence, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to press into His presence.

We all want a savior, but most do not understand or even accept the concept of Lord. Father God sent Jesus to save us and through that love we submit and allow him to become Lord of our lives.

There is a difference between singing and worshiping. Praise vs Worship. Do we sing songs About God or To God? We are called to be gatekeepers and watchmen. A generation is pushing back against the darkness, not by reacting or protesting, but through praise. The Earth is groaning for a move of God. We are ripe for a harvest of souls.

In our busyness of life do we haphazardly spend time with God? Is it a privilege or a chore? Is it something we do or is it who we are?

When my daughter was in school her teacher explained her report card like this, her grades were what she did, but the character comment marks were WHO she was. It’s the same with our relationship and how we communicate with our heavenly Father.

As we have learned to truly worship, we will discover the glorious truth that it attracts His very presence.
Through this process, we've come to expect and enjoy the presence of the Lord. David understood this and was a passionate lover of God's presence. As much as he loved the Lord's presence, David was never called "a man after God's presence." He had the awe-inspiring honor of being referred to by the Lord as "a man after MY heart”.

There can be a huge difference between pursuing God's heart and experiencing His presence. It is possible to be in a person's presence and never make it into their heart. There are plenty of people I'm willing to hang out with, but very few I’ll allow into my heart. That part of me is reserved for the people I've spent enough time with to know I can trust their motives and intentions. I need to be confident my heart has value to them. My heart is breakable; I want it handled with care. God is no different. His heart can be broken. His emotions can be wounded and His hopes for us dashed. He allows many into His presence but is much more selective with His heart. His presence is free, but His heart will cost you time and effort. I encourage you to pay the price to find His heart, no matter what it costs you, for the effort is well worth it and the reward is priceless.
 
Seek God's heart. When you find His heart, hidden inside, you’ll discover your purpose and destiny. Many love His presence and are willing to sing a few songs once or twice a week to enter it. Few, however, are after His heart.

Choose to become one who is after His heart. Don't settle; be a lingerer. Talk to Him slowly, listen to Him slowly, and leave Him slowly.

Pray, Father, you are worthy of our time, attention, and the greatest affections of our hearts. You are generous in rewarding those who diligently seek You. Giving greater glimpses of the beauty of Your heart. Forgive us for our impatience when approaching Your throne of grace. We want to be those who love to linger in Your presence, leaving slowly and hesitantly.
The one thing we ask for and seek is to dwell in Your house all our days, beholding Your beauty and meditating upon Your Word. Lingering. We want to go deeper with You as we enter the place where You dwell. We love to enjoy the pleasure of Your presence, but we want to seek after Your heart.
We know there's a high price that must be paid to enter that intimate place, but we are determined to give the time and effort to find and know Your heart. We will linger, longer still… And we wait.

Wait is in the covenant. It is literally woven into the very fabric of the covenant.

Wait: stay where one is or delay action. To stay in place in expectation of – to remain
Wait does not mean to sit idly.
Wait means to serve or act as a server; as in a waiter or waitress.
When we wait on God, we are in essence serving Him.

Waiting: eagerly impatient. To live expectantly.
Period of waiting – long wait
To pause for another, catch up
To be ready and available
To remain temporarily neglected
No waiting means Not Allowed.
 
When we see wait in the Bible, we know it to mean hope, anticipation, and trust.

There is another meaning to the word Wait that may have been lost in translation. Words can have many different uses and meanings in various languages.
We will give a new look and thought to this verse, looking at both the literal and figurative meaning of the word used in the original Hebrew.

The Hebrew word QAVAH is translated as “wait” in the verse that we often quote and use as a foundation for a time of rest. While resting and waiting on the Lord to act, move, and direct us, is a good gesture and posture, the scripture of Isaiah 40:31 has a far greater meaning than we may realize.  

The literal meaning of the qavah is “to bind together like a cord” or, “the twisting or winding of a strand of cord or rope.”

The figurative definition of the word qavah is “to wait”, or “to look for with eager expectation.”

To bind together like a cord does not mean to tie a cord around a bundle of sticks to keep them together. Instead, picture in your mind the process of making a rope by twisting or weaving and binding threads together to form a rope. The more strands twisted or woven together, the greater its strength. This is where we see the word strength as used in Isaiah 40.
 
A three-strand cord is not easily broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12

A simple string cannot lift very much weight because it does not have very many strands in it. A rope, however, can lift hundreds of pounds because it consists of many strands. When a rope lifts or pulls a load, it stretches a little while it is working. As it stretches and becomes tight, the individual strands are pulled and squeezed closer together. Through the stress on the rope, each strand works together to lift or pull the load. No one individual strand does all the work. If it did, the rope would snap. A rope’s strength comes from all the strands working together.

The literal definition of qavah implies strength through numbers. The more strands in your rope, the greater its strength. A rope’s strength comes from being made of many strands. Our strength comes through being united with Christ. The rope of our lives gains strength by being twisted, woven, or bound together with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I believe this speaks of covenant, as we serve a covenant God. Covenant.

Much as the verse in Ecclesiastes states; A three strand cord is not easily broken and implies the covenant God has made with us, the rope or cord as defined here speaks to a covenant promise.

The figurative meaning of qavah conveys eager anticipation and expectation. It is the same type of waiting that children do on Christmas morning while waiting for their parents to get out of bed so they can open their presents.

Most translations of the Bible chose to translate qavah figuratively and not literally.
Why did the translators use the figurative definition of qavah instead of the literal definition? It might have to do with the word renew, and the context of the verse. The word renew means to pass on, change, and renew. The phrase "renew their strength" means to exchange or substitute strength. It means giving up the old and receiving something new; tapping into a new resource of strength, which comes from God.

What does the figurative definition of qavah have to do with strength as listed in Isaiah? How does this tie in with our analogy of a rope? A rope’s strength comes from the number of strands in the rope’s composition. A rope’s strength remains constant even when it is slack. As strange as that last sentence may sound, it is the key to this verse. When a rope is slack, what is it doing? The rope is at rest or “waiting.” It “waits” for its owner to put it to use. The rope is still just as strong when it is not being used, but when it is picked up by the owner and put to work, it is at that moment the strength of the rope is on display. When a rope is attached to a load; it draws strength from all the strands. The owner of the rope puts it to work and makes it useful.

The focus of qavah is not on our human waiting but on God's acting, on the effectiveness of His divine word.

Translating words can be an overwhelming task, translating any word should be based on the context of the verse. What exactly is the context of Isaiah 40:31?
The context is strength. The strength of an eagle’s wings, the strength to run and not get weary, the strength to walk, not get weak. It is all about strength. This verse contains a great promise of strength for the weary. In our weakness, He gives us strength. The literal definition of qavah deals with strength and therefore could have been used.

Another problem with translating qavah literally is that it cannot be reduced to a single word. Reducing qavah to a single word removes the concept of the word. Remember, the literal concept of qavah is that of a rope, and strength in its fibers. It isn't easy to reduce that concept to a single word.

How exactly do we wait upon the Lord? The best analogy is the one we have been using, that of the rope. A rope is composed of many strands, and so is our relationship with God.
While waiting is not a work that makes something happen, renewal does not come through sitting still. In other words, waiting is not passive; it is active. We must put action to our walk and seeking.
 
The form of the Hebrew verbs renew and mount up implies that this waiting for God is not passive but rather active. The more strands that we weave into our relationship with God, the more strength He gives to us. It is an activity that we have to do. Put action to the promise. No one can do it for you.

The other side of wait holds the reward.

Bind yourself together like a cord with God. That is how you get stronger. That is how you spiritually soar like an eagle. That is how you will run through those assignments God puts before you without growing weary. That is how you walk through daily life without fainting. God can be trusted to keep His promises.
He is a covenant God.

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, they shall walk and not faint...Isaiah 40:31

Prayer is a gift, not to inform God of what he already knows, but a gift to commune with God. It’s a gift from a loving God who wants us to bring every single worry and need to him. It’s only through entering into His presence that we cannot only experience this but know it in our hearts. As long as we know our way into his presence everything is going to be alright.

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

 And he put a song in my heart: His Presence is Heaven to Me.

 In the waiting, He gets the glory.

Audrey