day no. 14,321: waiting well

I took a chance and introduced my kids to sermon jams. It was a success. Atticus loves Matt Chandler (who could blame him?) Our first family sermon jam was Chandler on "Waiting on the Lord" (see link below)




It was a good challenge for me personally to wait better than I often do. I get impatient wanting results more quickly. The part of me that loves efficiency is a little put off by how long things sometime take and the consternation of wondering if you'll ever get there in the meantime. This was a good reminder to wait well and that God provides what He requires in His timing for His glory and for my good. This sermon snippet provided refreshment and fuel for continuing the fight within myself when my head and my heart are at odds.

I looked up the full context of the famous Isaiah 40:31 verse after contemplating it and found even more grace. 

Isaiah 40:27-31
Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"? 28 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.

God alone is everlasting, relentless and indomitable. He shares His power with the weak and His strength with those who can't go on another moment on their own. I have 6 small children and can attest that their seemingly endless overflow of energy eventually hits a wall... eventually. Even youth cannot go on forever on their own power. But God gives grace to those who wait, who wrestle well in the meantime and find a wellspring of fresh strength from Him. Power and strength and resilience are not found by looking deeper within ourselves, they are received by looking outside of ourselves and to the One who alone never wears out.