Waiting on my Lord, My Lord who Waits on Me!

On Sunday, January 12, after a morning at church at First Lutheran in Gainesville, FL, Kathy and I traveled to Tampa to board a flight home to Alaska. We spent Christmas in Florida because I am serving at First Lutheran. We traveled home to see our family whom we missed this year. For our trips home we have recently been flying out of Tampa, because the airport is not as busy as Orlando. The traffic is not as bad. We don’t have the long security lines. However, this past Sunday as we arrived at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter in Tampa, the place was flooded with people in a way we seldom see with Alaska Air. We have both earned Alaska Airlines MVP status, and we usually get a shorter line at the ticket counter. But the priority line was also crowded, bending around the corner.

It turns out one of the cruise ships which uses Tampa as their home port was changing crews. And, many of the cruise-line workers were flying Alaska Air, quite a few on our flight. Many of those in line did not speak English. One of the Alaska Air workers was trying to organize the crowd, and asked people if they had priority status. Some of the large crowd moved to other lines. But, others did not seem to understand English enough to respond. So, we stood in the long line and prepared for a long wait.

Do you like to wait? Most people dislike waiting. Perhaps you have heard the facetious prayer: “Lord, give me patience. And, I want it NOW!”

Our Sunday airport experience came to mind as I was reading Isaiah 30:18 in my daily devotions on Wednesday, January 15. “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.”

Considering Isaiah 30, did you ever imagine that the Lord waits for us? For you? As I have again been reading through Isaiah in my daily devotions, the list of sins from God’s people is overwhelming. They are unfaithful to their Creator and Savior. They worship false gods. They indulge in greed and drunkenness. They hurt one another. Yet foolishly, they trust their own wisdom and their own efforts, rather than trusting and listening to and following the just and righteous Lord of all. In response to their sin, the Lord does discipline and punish His people so that they realize how they are hurting themselves. But, and this is a BIG BUT, the Lord waits. According to Isaiah 30:18, He is waiting for the people to turn to Him in trust and worship so that He may be gracious to them. For a wandering people, our Lord is a faithful God. Amazing!

Then, when God’s people turn to Him, they “wait for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18) We wait on the Lord. We wait for answers to prayer. We wait to understand God’s wisdom. We wait for His promises. We wait for salvation.

However, DO you like to wait? There are times when life is difficult, painful, wearying. When life hurts, we wonder where God is. Where is the Lord’s grace and mercy? Where is His answer to our prayers? We do not like to wait!

There is wisdom at the end of Isaiah 30:18, “blessed are all those who wait for him.” When we need help, yet that help does not seem to come as we desire, we learn about our Lord. We also learn about ourselves when we observe how God answers our prayer, or even seemingly does not answer them.

God’s ultimate answer, His grace and mercy, is found in Jesus. Isaiah often prophesies about “that day” when people live in the fullness of God’s love and grace. In Jesus, God walks beside us in the trials of life. In Jesus, God loves and forgives those who turned from Him, yet return in repentance and faith. In Jesus God blesses with eternal life. And, for the Lord’s people who wait on Him, we believe that the one who saves us eternally, can and does work good through the trials of this life.

I saw an answer to prayer today, January 15. Last year a former St. John, Palmer, member took sick. Steve Koss was in the same confirmation class as my oldest son, Josh. That makes Steve 43 or 44. But respiratory illness led to sepsis, and that infection spread and threatened Steve’s life. Steve lost his hands. He lost his lower legs and feet. Steve lost his ability to speak, and his family feared he would die. But today I saw a video from Steve’s mom. Steve is talking. He is going through physical therapy and walking on artificial legs, and newer, better legs are promised for the future. What a horrible tragedy! What brave recovery! But, the words which especially touched me were from Steve’s mom, Cherie. After talking of the past year’s gauntlet of troubles, Cherie wrote, “In so many ways we have felt the overwhelming presence of God in our lives and our families this past year. He is so faithful to watch over us and protect us and we give Him all the honor and praise.” Steve and family waited on the Lord. In His own wisdom, God acted in grace and mercy. Through their trials the Koss family saw God’s grace and mercy and love!

Personally, I do not like to wait. I was not happy to see the long line at the airport. However, I do desire to continue to grow in trusting in my Lord, waiting on Him. Amazingly, my Lord does wait for me to trust in Him, so that I might receive His grace and blessings.

Teach me, Lord, to wait on you so I may see how good and gracious you are!