By Pastor Anthony L. Scott
For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear,
Nor has the eye seen any God besides You who acts for the one who waits for Him.
[Isaiah 64:4, NKJV]
In this message from Isaiah, the emphasis is on the marvelous God who works for those that wait for Him. Our God is marvelous in that He does marvelous things for those who wait for Him because they love Him. The idea of waiting on God as expressed by Isaiah comes during a time when the people of God were going through a period of darkness and difficulty. It appears God had abandoned His people and ceased to act for their good.
In the hour of darkness and difficulty, the true attitude of those who believe in God is to wait for Him to grant the strength sufficient to enable us to wait. The great G. Campbell Morgan well illustrated that waiting on God implies three things. He said waiting on God is being in a state of perpetual suspense. It’s activity under command where we listen in order to obey. He also says waiting on God indicates a readiness for power to do nothing. Listening for the command from God that gives you the strength to hold back your strength. Lastly, he says waiting on God is simply the God given ability to do nothing until the command is given.
The Hebrew word picture for waiting has a visual affinity which is peculiarly suggestive. The word waiting has a connection to the word entrenched. So, no harm is done to the message given by Isaiah if read in this way, God works for those who entrench themselves in Him. The idea of waiting for God here is that of digging ourselves into God.
Waiting for God is the adjustment of our lives to the truth we know about Him. When circumstances are chaotic and impossible to understand our movement should be to wait on God. It suggests that we are to place our lives, lives which seem so uncertain, into the hands of the only One we are certain about. For those who wait, God works!
A twelve-year-old boy was desperately anxious to ride his bicycle, but his bike had a flat tire. So, he called his father and asked him to fix it. He waited and waited on his father to come, but his father was taking too long, so the little boy said, “I’ll do it myself.” The little boy did it himself out of frustration and the result was that the inner tube exploded, was ruined, and the boy narrowly escaped injury. When his father finally arrived, he asked his son, “why didn’t you let the air out first?” The result of our impatience is just like those this little boy encountered. When life is dark and difficult, wait on the Lord who knows how to let the air out of problem before He straightens out the problem!
