day no. 15,105: waiting and wailing

There are two types of waiting

"There is a waiting that causes our strength to dissipate, and there is a waiting that gathers our strength for us." - Douglas Wilson

The waiting that dissipates strength can be observed here.

Proverbs 13:12

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

The waiting that gathers strength can be seen here.

Isaiah 40:31

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.

One type of waiting feels like running on fumes while the other feels like waiting for the dam to burst. Both involve waiting, one ends with a "kaput" while the other ends in a "bang!"

There are also two types of sorrow that parallel two types of waiting in that there is one that dissipates strength and one that restores it

These can both be seen in the following...

2 Corinthians 7:10

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to the joy of salvation and freedom from regret, while worldly sorrow produces more and more sorrow that grinds to a halt in the ultimate sorrow of death.

God sometimes call us to wait and sometimes leads us to sorrow, but His waiting is our strength and His sorrow is our salvation.