Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion . . . Blessed are all who WAIT for Him. (Isa 30:18 NIV, emphasis added)
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and WAIT for the Lord. (Ps 27:14 NIV, emphasis added)
From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another. (Joh 1:16 NIV)
In Isaiah 30:18 (above), the author mentions that God rises to show us compassion or mercy. He has done that through the gift of salvation and many answered prayers for each one of us. In John 1:16 (above), the author states that we have all received blessings from God. All believers have experienced the goodness and generosity of God and of His love.
What do the verses above mean when they talk about “waiting for the Lord”? I believe that they can refer to two different concepts. The first is about waiting for the Lord to answer our prayers and supplications. The second is about “waiting on God”—spending time in His presence and waiting to hear His voice and His wisdom.
As we wait for the Lord to answer our prayers, it’s a good idea to encourage ourselves with Scriptures that demonstrate that God has already provided the answer to our needs. For instance, if our need is for healing, meditate upon the many verses in the Bible that show us that God is our healer and Jesus purchased healing through the atonement.
For Scriptures about healing, see: Prov 4:20-22; Deut 7:15; Exod 15:26; Jer 30:17; Isa 53:4-5, 58:8; Ps 30:2, 41:3, 103:3, 147:3; Mat 4:23-24, 8:2-3, 17, 9:20-22; 1 Pet 2:24; and Gal 3:14.
If you have a need in some other area, find Scriptures that support the concept that God has already given us all that pertains to life and godliness as well as the fact that he withholds no good thing from His people.
For encouraging Scriptures, see: 2 Pet 1:3; Ps 23:1, 34:10b, 37:4, 84:11; 1 John 3:21-23, 5:14-15; Rom 8:32; Mat 7:7, 11, 19:26, 21:22; Mark 9:23, 11:23-24; Lk 17:6; Joh 14:13-14, 15:7, 16; Col 1:12-14; 1 Cor 1:20; and Eph 1:3.
Today’s reflections have given us some worthwhile ideas on how to wait for the Lord to answer our prayers, and to do so with an attitude of faith.
(Parts 2 and 3 on this topic will be posted soon.)
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