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

Life is hard and difficult. Many times life leaves us feeling tired, worn out and broken-we believe that we are done-that we cannot take one more step. Life sometimes sees us moving from crisis to crisis. Sometimes difficulties in life drain all the energy from us, and we find ourselves in despair. But the Lord wants to give renew our strength, and gives us hope. God intends for us to enjoy a wonderful beautiful life, full of hope and promise. Sometimes that means stopping, and waiting on Him that His will might be done in our lives.

If you are like me, you do not like to wait. We have grown accustomed in our society to getting what we want now-we many times grow impatient having to wait. The everyday activities of our lives with all the hustle and bustle causes us to hurry and rush through our days without stopping to evaluate where we are really doing. Waiting on God gives Him the opportunity to bless our lives as we slow down and listen for His voice. As we wait on Him and recognize our utter dependence on Him, and seek His will, He will reveal His plan for our lives.

Waiting on the Lord is never passive: it is always active. As we wait on Him, we must cease our own pursuits and give God our complete undivided attention. As we wait on Him, He will supply the answers and carry out for us the things that we have attempted to do on our own.

Waiting on God means just that-Waiting on God. I see the results of doing things our way every day. How many times have we seen situations if the person would have just waited one more day, everything would have been different. We see where people move ahead without God into devastating circumstances, where if they would have just waited, and not given up hope, and a tragic end could have been avoided. I think that this happens to many people every day. Every day we see the results of broken individuals that have given up hope and abandoned their future. We see them sleeping in alleyways, standing by the side of the road, begging for change, living in cardboard boxes instead of the comfort of a home. We see them stranded alone in life, without hope as they abandon their families, spouses, loved ones, jobs, and careers. There is nothing worse in life than losing all your hope for a future.

A person who has lost all hope is relegated to being destitute, without God. Without hope in God they will find themselves feeling abandoned, desolate, disinherited, displaced, and down-and-out. Those who cannot wait upon the hope of the Lord will feel estranged, exiled, forsaken, friendless, uncared-for, unsettled, abandoned, alone, comfortless, despairing, desperate, forgotten, down in the dumps, lost, miserable, solitary, tragic, unhappy, weighed down, woebegone, and wretched. These feelings will lead to many disasters in life; loss of marriage, loss of family, loss of social standing, and in extreme cases, even loss of life.

Over the years I have seen it happen again and again, and I could write blog after blog about the tragic ends of people I have personally known who have grown so distraught and hopeless that they have destroyed their lives. These lives have many times broken my heart as I have seen the enemy use fear and depression to destroy wonderful people. We are children of God; He will accomplish His will in our lives if we wait upon Him-we cannot allow the enemy to convince us that we are hopeless, worthless, or good for nothing.

Psalms 42:5(Message) version says,

Why are you down in the dumps Oh my soul? Why am I crying the blues?

I will fix my eyes on God-soon I’ll be praising again.

He will put a smile on my face. He’s my God.

When we wait on God, putting our trust and hope in Him, it will silence the enemy as he know God is our rescue. As we put our hope in God, tomorrow will always come. As we wait on Him, His peace will keep our heart at rest, averting feelings of hopelessness and despair. When a soul is broken and lost, it will not survive. It cannot find rest, and there is no peace, when hope is not there. The hope found in the grace of God by Christ Jesus will heal a broken spirit where nothing else can. A mother can take her crying infant and place it to her breast and quiet its fears and tears. David took his depression and sadness and laid it on the breast of God’s hope as he said “Why am I discouraged, broken, depressed, down in the dumps, crying the blues; Why am I sad; I will put my hope in God, I will fix my heart and eyes on him and He will bring gladness to my soul.” As we wait on the Lord placing our hope in Him, He will turn our brokenness into gladness, turn sorrow into peace, and turn sadness into joy. In His everlasting arms we will be able to laugh while there are still tears in our eyes. When we are broken by the disasters that are occurring in our lives is the time to turn to God from whence comes our salvation, hope and rescue. The grace and hope in Jesus Christ will fill our souls with joy. It is in realizing what Christ has done for us that we will find comfort. Hope will renew life within us, if we will but rest on the breast of His promises.

The turmoil and stress of life will many times leave us tired, worn out, and stressed out, that we that we think we are done. The weight of all our burdens will leave us feeling that we cannot even take one more step. Many people finding themselves in that situation abandon all hope, and simply give up. It is when our life is in crisis, when our circumstances have drained all our strength from us; it is then we need to hope and wait upon the Lord. God wants to give us a new tomorrow, He wants to bring a new tomorrow, renewing our strength. He wants us to have life, and live it in abundance. God intends a wonderful fruitful life for us. The key to that is stopping, and waiting on Him to accomplish His will in our lives. He is our hope for tomorrow and strength for today.

Lamentations 3:26 says It’s a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help and salvation from God.

We all face trial, and have feelings of distress and despair. God wants to show us how to be raised above it. God’s word promises us that His compassion never fails; of this we have fresh instances every morning.

Psalms 37:7 reminds you to Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act.

We are to rest in our Lord, being still in His presence, knowing that he is God, all the time quietly submitting to his will. We are to patiently wait for him; for the joy He will bring, for the help He will give, and for the deliverance He promises. We must wait upon the Lord with patience which requires much grace to carry out. We must calm our spirit, and be silent before the Lord, waiting for Him to act. Our silence before God as we wait on Him shows a wise head, and a holy, obedient heart. Time is nothing to God so let it become nothing to us in our hour of need. Wait upon the Lord; He will renew your strength that in life you may soar as an eagle in the year 2017.

-Darrell Creswell