“But if we wait expectantly for things we have never seen, then we hope with true perseverance and eager anticipation.” Romans 8:25 The Voice

I am discovering, (although slowly), that hope and wait go together like pie and ice cream!  You can’t have one without the other!  Wait includes time for our expectations to rise for what we know God will do.  We just don’t know what or how He will do it!  Hope builds in the wait as we trust God to do what is best for us no matter the circumstances on our current journey. God always comes through on our behalf through trials and tests, at just the right time, as a testimony of His glorious work in us as we stand firm in our faith–all so that others will see His works in us—not for our glory but for His! 

Remember the Lazarus story? (Read the whole story in John 11) Lazarus, a very good friend, as were his sisters, Martha and Mary, to Jesus.  Jesus used to stay at his house when in the area.  Martha served while Mary sat at his feet, hanging on every word Jesus spoke.  While Jesus was away to “seek and to save the lost and heal the sick”, Lazarus fell gravely ill. Jesus was summoned to come heal him before death; but He chose to wait.  Jesus stayed where he was for two more days instead of going right away. He explained that the illness would bring glory to God. Why didn’t he drop everything in ministry to go heal his dear friend? Let us repeat what Jesus said to his concerned disciples with him—”Waiting will bring glory to God.”

Did the disciples fully understand? —probably not.  But we know from reading through the gospels that Jesus didn’t say or do anything powerfully significant without first consulting His Father in heaven—as we should.

“I only do and say what my Father tells me.”

As it turned out, Lazareth died before Jesus arrived.  Mary and Martha grieved for their brother deeply. In their grief, Marha looked at Jesus and said, “my brother would not have died if you would have been here”. (Ouch)  Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life”.  Did she understand?  Not completely.  She knew all who believed would be with God in heaven someday; but she didn’t know the full story—yet—of Jesus redeeming death and God’s resurrection of Jesus to life for eternity! Her only thought was of her brother who had died.

Mary, in her grief, just sobbed at Jesus’ feet.  Seeing their sorrow and the weeping crowd, Jesus was deeply moved and cried. This forms the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept”. (John 11:35) 

Jesus then went to work on behalf of this family but mainly for the purpose to declare the power and glory of God for all to see!  Jesus went to the tomb and ordered the stone in front be rolled away.  (A sign of things to come for his resurrection and life!)  Martha warned that after 4 days, the smell would be bad. But Jesus was not concerned about the physical—only the spiritual renewal of his dear friends and the crowd who watched—as the glory of God provided the miracle of life!  Remember what Jesus said days earlier?  “Waiting will bring glory to God.”

Jesus prayed out loud to God for all to hear so they would know that what was about to happen would be the glorious, miraculous work of God. Then, in hopeful expectation, Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”

Lazarus walked out of the tomb, still wrapped in strips of linen burial cloth. Jesus told the people to take off the grave clothes and let him go!  No longer bound by the things of this world, Lazarus was free to walk with Jesus once more on earth. Mary and Martha turned their grief into joy, praising God for resurrecting their brother. We can almost hear Martha order, “Get out the funeral casseroles and cakes and let the party of life begin!”

Many of the witnesses came to believe in Jesus after seeing this miracle. At the same time, it made the religious leaders angry and anxious, leading them to plot against Jesus’s life.  The miracle also prompted the chief priests and Pharisees to plot to kill Lazarus as well, because he was living proof of Jesus’s power as the proclaimed Son of God! 

There was no denying it—God’s was in control. God never gave up His authority but demonstrated His power and glory through the resurrection of Lazarus—and later Jesus, His Son. All in God’s perfect timing.  There is glory in the wait when God directs our path.

Psalm 131, The Message

A song of ascents. Of David.

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost,
    I don’t want to be king of the mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no business
    or fantasized grandiose plans.

² I’ve kept my feet on the ground,
    I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.
Like a baby content in its mother’s arms,
    my soul is a baby content.

³ Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope.
    Hope now; hope always!

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Prayerfully ponder; (Take a minute or two)

Do I wait with glorious expectation for what God will do in and through me?

Hope, waiting for the glorious expectation for God to act begins with the surrender of our will while seeking His “pleasing and perfect will.”  Hope with wait includes patience for His timing in all things, being still before the Lord in communion with Him, asking for His wisdom, along with a great deal of focused listening for Him.  (Romans 12 helps us)

The hope I sought used to include those things I asked God for and knew He could make happen if it was in His will.  But now in this season of my life, hope is connected strongly to peace—the peace and contentment I feel when I am just quiet and still before Him, knowing with full trust that God is sitting right here with me as I listen, waiting with expectant hope for Him.  I adore my Lord.  I adore watching Him work in all His glory all around and in me.  I love to give Him all the thanksgiving He deserves from a humbled grateful heart.  But my words are just not enough.

Like David sings, my heart also sings with the same content—like a child wrapped in her mother’s arms sitting on her lap. I hope and pray to see God’s glory at work daily and He answers in ways that I never dreamed!  God does it over and over because it is His glorious power I love to see all around me.  Most days, I cannot keep up with my consistent words of thanks and praise to equal His continuous glorious blessings of goodness that I see at work in and all around us! 

There is no one like our God! 

Our God is powerful yet personal. He created us to be in an intimate, personal, loving, growing relationship with Him.  What I described above is how I grew to love Him more and more each day.  He never gave up on me and I love being with Him.

And guess what—it’s not must me!  Everyone who calls on His Name will not only be saved for eternity but grows exponentially in an incredibly intimate loving relationship with the God of all Creation!  We stand in a healthy awe and fear of our Lord for all He has done, is doing and will do in our hope-filled lives as we wait expectantly!

ICYMI, Hope is associated closely with the action of wait. In the past, my waits seemed longer for me because I thought it was an exercise in doing nothing.  When I was much younger, working at full speed, giving God all I had, wanting tasks to be done yesterday so others could know Him more today, the word wait was hard to swallow. Over the years, I had to learn the value of hope with wait.  Now, with the powerful guidance of His Holy Spirit along with the same commitment to tell His story of redemption, the waits are growing sweeter as time goes by.  I learned to relax and let God.

Wait Time of being still in quiet adoration of my Lord, I fully realized the depth of the old hymn of my parents and grandparents; “And He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own…”  for I know Whom I have believed and I know fully that God walks with me and does indeed talk with me all day long. Sometimes I wake to the sound of His still small voice, whispering the solution of a problem or a blessed plan for resolution.  Sometimes God just reminds me to rejoice in the blessings He has already provided.  “…And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.”

There is no one like our God!

My heart contently wonders what is on the heart of God about all that concerns me about my family, friends, and those who enjoy working with the enemy. So, I resolutely pray while He works.  This is the peace of Christ living in all who believe, trust, hope, wait, and obey.

Lord,

Thank you for David’s song that reminds us of the song you put in our hearts.  Thank you for cleansing our hearts, removing all that does not belong, renewing our minds, helping us to wait with expectant hope, refreshing our souls with your new mercies for today, all while restoring the joy of your salvation at work within us.  What a mighty God you are!

In Jesus Name, Amen