Who is Waiting for Who?

“…therefore will the Lord wait… blessed are all they that wait for him.”—Isaiah 30:18

   Our text mentions God waiting and us waiting. The question is—Who is waiting for who?

   The context of Isaiah 30 is Assyria was posed to attack Judah. The situation look grim. In this situation, God admonishes Judah to return and rest their situation on Him (see Isa. 30:15).  But they refuse (Isa. 30:15-16). They seek the help of Egypt instead of trusting the Lord (Isa 30:1-2). Big mistake (Isa. 31:1).

Before we get too hard on Judah, put yourself in their shoes.  You are in a crisis. You are overwhelmed.  What do you do?  Will you try to work out your problem in your own wisdom and strength? Do you seek help or counsel from the world?  Or, do you rest and wait on the Lord to help?

    Waiting is never passive.  Waiting is active. It is not a matter of folding our hands and waiting for something—It’s a matter of lifting our hands and waiting on Someone.  God is waiting to see if we will wait for Him! It is as if God “folds His arms and patiently taps His foot” as He waits for us to get to the point where we pray, “God, I can’t handle this. I’m turning it over to You. Help!”  Then God says, “Finally!  That’s what I’ve been waiting for!  Now I can work!”

As Fanny Crosby wrote in Rescue the Perishing:

Though they are slighting Him, still He is waiting,

Waiting the penitent child to receive;

“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him” (2 Chron. 16:9 cf. Ex. 14:13-14).

    God will not act until we wait and trust Him to act.  God will not move on our behalf until we rest our cause upon Him.  God is saying, “Quit looking to the world for help! I’m the answer to your problems. Stop trying to dig yourself out the hole you’ve dug for yourself. Trust Me to get you out of your predicament. Wait on Me.” Quit trying to run from your problems, because they will always catch up to you (see Isa. 30:16).

If you find yourself asking, “How long, O Lord?” God’s answer may be, “When you’re ready to trust Me.”

It’s your choice—Who are you going to trust?  To whom do you turn for help in crisis? Are you going to trust the wisdom of this world? Are you going to trust your own ingenuity and what strings you can pull?  What doors you can knock down? Or, will you humbly confess, “Lord, I’m in a mess. I’m stuck. Right now I return and rest my case on You to help me.” (Ps. 27:14; 37:7; 62:5; 130:5).

“Don’t let the tyranny of self-sufficiency rob you of a miracle from God!”

NOTE: Is devotion is adapted from a study on Isaiah 30.  To see the entire lesson go to this LINK: https://avhughes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/32-Woe-4-Isa.-30.pdf