“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31). When we wait upon the Lord, we are making our decisions based on His timing. The Lord will always invite us to make the choice that is the best not just for ourselves at this moment right now, but the choice that is the best for ourselves and for all of those we love for all time and for all eternity. Obviously, not every choice we have has eternal significance. We don't want to paralyze ourselves by agonizing over whether or not we should wear the blue shirt or the green shirt because even tiny decisions like these will have consequences for eons to come. On the other hand, giving into every single urge and desire for instant gratification can be completely exhausting. Chasing after every hedonic pleasure that pops into our head will suck the life right out of us. When we wait upon the Lord, we choose to think celestial and we put off the natural man and every idle whim and passing fancy because we know that they will only keep us scratching in the dirt and running after shimmering mirages that always seem to tantalizingly disappear just as we are getting close. Satan doesn't really much care how we waste our strength so long as we keep coming back to his labyrinth again and again and futilely looking for happiness amongst all of his wickedness until we collapse with exhaustion. Whatever temptation that grips us, no matter how urgent or desperate it tries to make us feel, it doesn't have a very long shelf life. If we will just ignore it for a little bit, it will shrivel away and leave us alone. As we wait on the Lord and think Celestial and ignore the enticings of the devil, our strength will be renewed, we will be able to run continuously towards the fountain of all righteousness, and walk the path of the righteous without fainting, and, when we are ready, mount up with wings as eagles and soar high above all of those selfish and tiny concerns. Waiting upon the Lord is as much about waiting for Him to do something amazing as it is about waiting with the Lord for all of our baser instincts to tire themselves out and slink off. I know that good things come to those who wait partly because all of the bad things will have gotten bored and wandered off, leaving plenty of room for the good things.
