Hoping, Trusting, and Waiting on God

(Read Isaiah 40)

A few Aprils ago, my Mom was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer in April and she succumbed to the disease only three months later. She was a wonderful, loving Mom and an even better Grandmother known as “Goggy.” I gained my appreciation for the arts and a good bit of artistic talent from her side of the gene pool.

For about 16 years, Goggy also lived with the debilitating and progressive condition known as Parkinson’s Disease. Her body migrated from a strong woman who played tennis, paddle tennis, and an avid watercolorist to an incarcerated being who watched television and struggled to knit.

When I was involved with Youth Ministry at our former church, someone had introduced me to the incredible story of Nick Vujicic. This most incredible young man is a world renown motivational speaker, online personality, Evangelist, husband, and father of four. He was also born without any limbs. That’s right, none.

“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.”
Isaiah 40:31 NKJV

“Isaiah” is known as one of the most prophetical writings in the Old Testament. This major work comprises 66 chapters and describes a period of about two centuries. Most scholars believe the Prophet Isaiah (8th Century BC) penned at least a big chunk of the book. Whether he was involved with the entire book or not is irrelevant.

The Israelites were worn out from their hardship of being exiled in Babylon for so long. Their perspective was clouded by self-defeating thoughts of despair. They believed that either God couldn’t help them or worse, didn’t care. Weak in body and weak in spirit, they had exhausted all hope.

Isaiah was reminding the people of the Lord’s response to their lack of hope and their bad theology. Certainly, the one God, as “Creator of the universe who held the oceans in his hands, weighed the mountains, and consulted no one” (RC Sproul) has the ability to provide life-sustaining hope to a people he had punished.

With no arms or legs since birth, Vujicic shocks the world. His message isn’t about richs, fame, and success. It’s mostly about hope. At the old age of eight, he fought serious bouts of depression, contemplating suicide, thinking he would never amount to anything and that there was nothing to live for.

According to Vujicic, only “hope that comes from God” got him through. “Knowing that God knows me better than anyone else. He has a plan, hope, and future for me.”

My Mom first lost her ability to run and control complex muscle movements. Her passion for sports became something she relegated to watching. Then, the painful one for me to witness was when she lost the ability to paint. It was such a driving passion and marker in her life. I thought it would devastate her. It didn’t. Goggy continued to smile, rule as matriarch of our family, and be the happiest Grandmother in the world.

She went from walking stiffly with a hitch, to a cane, to a walker, and eventually a wheel chair. But the disease didn’t define her. She didn’t let it. She might have been stripped of the world’s skills and trinkets, but she was not stripped of her hope.

“OBSTACLES = OPPORTUNITIES!” is Nick Vujicic’s motto. He travels, records videos, and presents to a multitude of people around the world. He is a strong anti-bullying advocate and speaks to millions of students about his struggles and theirs.

“I want you to know you are here for a reason,” he says. “You’re beautiful. There’s not another you.” Take it from someone who is reminded of this every second of his life. Is he downtrodden like the Israelites Isaiah was writing to? Does he believe that God doesn’t listen or can’t help? “God’s not just going to help you go through this, He’s going to help you grow through this.”

If you look at various translations of Isaiah 40:31 you will see a few different words used in the first line. Translations range from “hope,” “trust,” and “wait.” They all fit. Think about it. When we hope, trust, or wait on God, we are giving up our control to someone who has promised to be at our side every step of our lives. Isaiah addressed the weary. While we may grow faint, God never does.

If we try to manage our lives solely by relying on our own talents, skills, and capabilities,  we will soon discover that none of these are enough for our needs. The same God who gave us strength in the past, will be there with us tomorrow. Storms will come but they don’t have to overcome us. During our time of waiting, God will strengthen us. As we wait on God, He will lift us up. It is His strength in our weakness that gives us clarity, teaches us, and re-aligns us.

The disease that sapped my Mom of her physical abilities was just that, a disease. It had nothing to do with my Mom’s joy, her character, or her hope. When I think of her now, I am reminded of her waiting, she was a very patient person, I think of the renewal she lived each day with, I think of her happiness soaring above her diminished capacity, and I think of her not giving in to weariness of heart.

We should wait on God. Let’s move ahead while God is moving forward in our life. Wait, trust, and hope in God. We can’t see His hand in every action, but we can obey what we know about Him and be patient that He’s with us today and tomorrow. Nick Vujicic paraphrased what Jesus told us in John, “the peace that Jesus can give you is a peace that the world cannot give and doesn’t understand.” This peace was promised by God to the Israelites and is a peace promised to every believer of Jesus Christ.

“There is something greater than the limitations around you. There is hope.”
Nick Vujicic

Key Application:

• Read Isaiah 40. What strikes you about the tone of this chapter? Do you see the despair that Isaiah is writing to? Do you feel their hopelessness? More importantly, do you feel a weight lifted off your shoulder by the promise of God’s hope? Do you feel saved by an empty statement or fully lifted up by the Creator of the world?
• When waiting, trusting, and hoping on God remember:
  God’s timetable is different than ours, God’s wisdom is greater than ours, and God’s love has always been ours.

During waiting periods, God works both in our hearts and in others’ hearts.
— Charles R. Swindoll

Where else in your life can you live out the teachings of Christ? Look for next week’s Devotion.