Waiting
“As I wait upon the Lord I grow stronger. As I wait upon the Lord I grow stronger. As I wait upon the Lord I grow stronger, every day. I’m gonna fly like an eagle. I’m gonna fly like an eagle. I’m gonna fly like an eagle, every day!”
These are the words of my favorite praise song with a youtube link to it. It seems to be the song that soothes me the most and gives me the strength to carry on.
I don’t wait well. I grumble when I have to wait in line at the grocery store. I complain when I have to wait in traffic. I have to be ahead of all the other cars on the highway. I hate sitting in the waiting room of a doctor’s office for more than five minutes.
Waiting has been the most difficult task I’ve had to learn on my journey to fulfill my God-given purpose. (I’ve certainly been tested on it, of course.) I’m a “make things happen” kind of person (like right now!). I’ve gotten ahead of God a few times thinking I knew the way to go. I only got lost and had to start over, and so I’ve learned to wait. Waiting can make me weary. The more spiritually mature I become, the more God seems to make me wait.
Isaiah 40:29-31 says, “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
The eagle has been a prominent symbol in my life. My husband, Rick, flew the F-15 Eagle during his Air Force Career. He retired as a colonel – represented by eagle’s wings on his shoulders. The eagle is also the symbol for our ministry logo.
The eagle represents strength with the ability to soar no matter what. When I’m stuck in a rut, impatient with circumstances, I sing my favorite praise song. I visualize flying above the world like an eagle. God made us to live in this world but not to be “of” it. We should be able to rise above the worldly issues that are always going to be present in some form or other. (Nowhere in the Bible does it say our life on Earth will be easy.)
A Pastor of mine once spoke on waiting and referred it to the eagle. He said that the eagle doesn’t resist the storm; he flies above it.
We often get too wrapped up in the storm, fighting it all the way. We live it, we eat it, and we breathe it. We forget to realize that it’s part of our walk on the earth. We should deal with it by turning to God for help and by keeping it separate from our daily living, not succumbing to its power by allowing it to seep into all we say and do.
The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. It should have been an eleven day trip. How often do we wander and wait because we lose our focus on God? We fixate on the problem until it consumes us, and we wander ahead of God to try to solve it, losing our way.
Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.”
God allows us to go through trials so that we will turn our eyes to Him for help. When all is well we tend to ignore Him. The only way to get through the storms without driving yourself crazy is to stay focused on God. Keep your mind steadfast on Him - not just on Sundays or Wednesday nights – every moment of every day.
Whatever storm you are going through, even in your own marriage, take the time to look at what God is trying to teach you. Life is a big school we attend where we will learn lessons until the day we die.
Maybe you need to look inward at what changes need to be made in your life and not outward at changes you think someone else should make. Once you change your thinking or attitude, the other person causing you grief may not seem like such a problem anymore. In fact, they may notice the changes in you and realize they need to improve their part in the relationship.
You may have to wait awhile, though, to see those changes come to life. That’s the time to rise up on those eagles’ wings and bask in the peace of God. It sure beats waiting in the self- pity parking lot.
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