Worship

Strength Will Rise When I Wait?

1 Comment / November 21, 2011

Are you sure, Lord?  Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord.  As we sang this song in church yesterday, I thought about that phrase.  Wait a second…my strength doesn’t “rise” when I am waiting on the Lord.  It usually decreases.  I wonder if that phrase is even biblical?  So right there in church (sorry, Pastor Dan!) I started looking to find the scripture that  backed that phrase up.  As I read a few of the verses that contained the word “wait” I came across several rich passages but most had to do with being comforted by the Lord.  I didn’t read anything about my strength rising.  And then I remembered that verse in Isaiah.  Where was that again?  Chapter 40 or was it 41?  I flipped the pages through Isaiah looking for it.   There it was.  Chapter 40, verse 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.

While we wait our strength will be renewed.  Our strength will rise…grow stronger…as we wait.  And I thought about some of the situations in my life where waiting is my only option.   And I knew that waiting usually depleted my strength.  It didn’t make it grow stronger.  And then I had to ask myself this question:  if scripture tells me that waiting will make me grow stronger, why was I growing weaker?

As I pondered this question, I realized the answer: I grow weaker when I am waiting if I am relying on my own strength.  I am small and finite and things look impossible to me.  But God is big and infinite and all-knowing. All things are possible with God.  He is our hope…our strong deliverer, just like the song goes on to say.  In fact, as I took the time to read through the lyrics (see below) after I got home, I realized that the entire song was based on that verse in Isaiah.

But there wasn’t anything in that verse to indicate that waiting would be easy…or fun.  In my world, I am “happier” if I can do something to solve a problem and many of my conversations with the Lord have gone something like this: “Lord, please just show me the path to take, and then I’ll do it, Lord. Please show me how I can solve the problem and I promise I will work hard to do that.”    But guess what?  If we solve the problem, then we get the glory.  It is only when I acknowledge that I can’t possibly solve this problem and, in prayer and with faith and patience, submit the impossible to my Heavenly Father that I can get a glimpse of His glory.

Some of us wait and wait and wait.  We have wayward children…or broken relationships…or a situation at work…or an illness…and they are seemingly unending.  And we grow discouraged.  And we grow weaker.  Waiting is not for the faint of heart.  Waiting is hard.   But after we have done all we can do…after we have given 110% to solve a problem…or read every good book there is to read about God’s will…and there is still a question mark hanging over our heads…then, instead of throwing our hands up in the air, we need to turn it over to the Lord.  And as we wait, trusting in a God who is so much bigger than us, our strength will be renewed, not because of anything we will do…but because He will give us strength.

Everlasting God

Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord
We will wait upon the Lord

Our God, You reign forever
Our hope, our Strong Deliverer
You are the everlasting God
The everlasting God
You do not faint
You won’t grow weary

You’re the defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like eagles
You won’t grow weary

Which matters more?

Leave a Comment / November 14, 2011

Casey said “I love you so much, mom!” and gave her mother a big hug as she walked out the door.  She was headed to her boyfriend’s house, where they would be alone for the next 2 hours.  She was disobeying something her mother had specifically told her not to do.  So what did her words mean?

Jack passionately kissed his wife good-bye and said, “I love you, honey”,  before he walked out the door to meet his mistress for lunch.  What did his words mean?

“You are my best friend!  I am so thankful for you!” is what Marta heard in her ears…the day before Janet betrayed her deepest secret.  What did her words mean?

Which said love?  The words?  Or the actions?  The words are great—if they match the actions. If we truly love someone, we show it with our actions.

So how does this transfer to our spiritual life?  Thousands of people across America sing their hearts out, dance to the worship music, raise their hands, and feel “close to God” each week during Worship.  But if they are living like they want, giving no heed to God and His Word the rest of the week…are they really “close to God”?  The answer is no.  It is not possible to live in disobedience and still be close to God.  Is it possible that we are being fooled into thinking we are close to God?   Perhaps the music, the words, the raised hands are giving us a false sense of closeness.  Perhaps we are not really close at all.

This is not about judging the sin in the lives of others.  This is about common sense.  Just as a child cannot have a close relationship with his parents if he is living in rebellion to their rules and wishes, so it is impossible for anyone to have a close relationship with God if  he is  living in rebellion and disobedience to God’s commandments and desires.

And yet, if you had the opportunity to peek in worship centers across the country each week, you would see thousands of people raising their hands and “feeling” close to God.  Are some of these feelings genuine?  Of course.  Absolutely.   But if we are living in sin–according to the Bible’s definition and without conviction; without any effort to change–then our feelings are deceiving us.  How we feel when we worship is irrelevant to the truth.

It is sobering to think about and yet so important.   You see, our Sunday worship time should simply be an extension of the rest of our week.  Worship is so much more than one hour during the week.  It is about how we live our whole life.  May we live with a heart that longs to please God with every moment of every day and may we not be deceived by feelings that are oh, so fleeting.

John 14:23-24 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.

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