The promise is in the wait.

grass beside the sea

waiting…

There is renewal in waiting when you’re waiting on the Lord. It is how we wait and endure that defines the renewal.  If we lose sight of who we are waiting on disappointment, discouragement, or depression can creep in.  This passage in Isaiah gives us hope as we wait it shows the way Jacob and Israel thought, it exposes for us how are thoughts can affect us. There are promises in waiting on the Lord, don’t lose sight and heart in the wait.

Isaiah 40:27-31 “27 Why do you say, O Jacob and speak O Israel? My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God? 28 “Have you not known? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary, His understanding is unsearchable 29 He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait on 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.”

We wait on God not man, so often we put our expectation on man looking at man as the one who gives us what we need and then our focus becomes distorted because man is just a man, but God wants us to wait on the Lord.

When you wait there is strength in the wait for you. Therefore, let your focus be aligned to God not self, man or the circumstance. That does not mean you just sit still and do nothing it means your spirit, soul and body is trusting in the Lord for the promise He gave you.

They shall mount up with wings ‘mount up’ preparation for flight effortlessly not striving. Mount up means to increase in something. As you wait you are increasing in the fruit of the spirit, Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control if you are waiting on the Lord with an expectancy from God.  When our eyes get on man or earthly outcomes we can slowly slip into flesh. The flesh has fruit too, but it is rotten fruit adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries let us not think one is worse than the other their all fleshly, carnal and sin.

‘They shall run and not be weary’ running the race before you with renewed strength to endure. The race of life is not competition, comparing or cheating, but running daily the race of life is Kingdom living. Putting God’s Kingdom and ways first, with a heart to love the Lord with all your heart and mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself. You can run the race of life without the Kingdom of God, but it will account for you eternally as nothing.

They shall walk and not faint your walk with Christ is first private, then public if your private walk is not maintained it will affect your public walk eventually. We cannot walk on two different paths and maintain our walk with Christ. Waiting on God takes time, it is not a waste of time to wait, because in the wait we are renewed, refined and fired by the heat of the furnace of life.

God gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength. Those who wait on the Lord are promised renewed strength. If you are feeling worn out or frustrated, because it has not gone your way, it is time to surrender your disappointments, frustrations, and wait on God. Let the Spirit of the Lord renew you as you surrender your plans to Him. God has perfect timing.

What seems like a suddenly for someone really is God’s timing they have been in a ‘waiting on Him’ without anyone knowing. I have heard it said God is never late and never early or in a hurry. I don’t know if that is true, but I think at times it feels like it may be true. We must trust God in our life situations. Only He knows the outcome for all. When we keep our eyes on Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith you can rest assured, He will work in your life and bring about His plans and purposes.

It is good to have goals and plans I personally like organization; I like everything to have its place, but life can throw curve balls that are unexpected and hard to navigate. Trusting God in these times can bring a sense of calm even though in the natural, it is crisis. But God’s word gives us promises to hold onto. But those who wait on the Lord shall be renewed, the bible says, and I have experienced in my life renewal during hard and disappointing setbacks in delays. I have seen God take a mess and create peace when I surrender it to him.

Today if you are waiting in uncertainty put your trust in the Lord, He will take care of you.

What type of graveclothes are you wearing?

What are grave clothes? When we are born again, we have a regenerated spirit, but we still have the world on us sometimes. God wants you loosed from the trappings of the graveclothes. He wants us to let go of the things that are binding our hands, feet, hearts, and minds.

In John 11:43-44 “Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ 44And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘loose him, and let him go.’”

Jesus’ friend Lazarus died and was buried. On the fourth day Jesus came and raised him from the dead. He said Lazarus come forth, Lazarus rose and came out of the tomb, but was still wrapped in graveclothes. Grave clothes are cloth stripes used for burial in ancient days.

These strips of cloth were wrapped around the body to where the entire body was bound. I’ve been thinking of the ways we can become bound even though we are regenerated in spirit we can continue to live bound.  It is interesting to me that Jesus told the people who moved the stone to unbind Lazarus. Even then people were needed to help and so are they today. Sometimes we think I don’t need help, or no one understands but God does understand, and he uses others to help unbind us.

To me grave clothes are things that keep you stuck or things that are harming your growth. We are spiritual, emotional, physical beings and we can get stuck in many ways. Mindsets can be binding on your health and growth when we let the painful thoughts of the past or current situations keep us from moving forward, it becomes the grave cloth over the mind. Jesus died so we could have freedom from oppressive thoughts, harmful habits, and harmful relationships.

Eternal life isn’t just going to heaven it is life here and now.  But we need to let our hands, feet, or mind be unbound. Can you imagine Lazarus fighting the people who were helping him? Unfortunately, at times we do hinder our help. But today is a good day to allow God to use his word to bring you the help you need and reach out to someone for the help you need.

What is keeping you bound today? What is limiting your growth, stopping you from moving forward, or holding you back? Surrender it to God by giving it to him and ask for his help. Then receive the help you need. My prayer is that if you are hurting today, you receive the help you need to move in the right direction.

The Marvelous Mind & Know your thoughts!

Have this mind…