Therefore the LORD is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. All who wait patiently for Him are happy.
Isaiah 30: 18 (CSB)
Oh, do we hate waiting. Isaiah 30: 18 tell us, though, that God waits to show us mercy and will bless us when we wait on Him. This devotion explores what that looks like.
Nuggets
- God waits for us to repent before He shows us mercy.
- He does this because He is compassionate and gracious.
- God will be a judging God.
- God rewards those who are obedient to Him.
Sometimes when we pray, it seems that God is not answering us. Instead, God is making us wait for His answer.
Isaiah 30: 18 gives us some insight into why God makes us wait. This verse starts with the word therefore. That means it is pointing back to what was said in the previous verses.
Let's Put It into Context
I started reading at verse 8, the start of the previous section, and got a chuckle out of it. Basically, verse 8 — the way I read it — says, “Write it down so they can have it — because they are going need it down the road because those knuckleheads are going to have forgotten it by then.”
Unfortunately, God was telling the Israelites to keep it forever because they will need it when they rebel again. They had this tendency to not listen to God.
Look at what they told the prophets: “… “Prophesy not to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel’” (Isa. 30: 10-11 RSV). Oh, man. Are you sure that wasn’t written in 2019?
Don’t make God’s Word hurt. Do make us change what we are doing. Better yet, just don’t speak of God. Isn’t that what people are saying today?
God’s response was that their sin was going to be like a wall fixing to collapse. When it blows, it is just going to come down with a crash.
What my mind pictured was the twin towers coming down on 9/11. The breaking is likened to “… that of a potter’s vessel which is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a sherd is found …” (Isa. 30: 14 RSV).
God gave the Israelites a second (and third and fourth and a gazillionth) chance. All they had to do was come back, repent, and put their trust in Him.
They said no. They thought they could rely on themselves and their possessions (horses in this case).
The God of Mercy
“Therefore the LORD is waiting to show you mercy …” (Isa. 30: 18 CSB).
Since the Israelites had rebelled, God said that He was going to wait them out. They were going to have to repent before He would show them mercy.
We’ve talked before about what mercy means. Mercy is where He doesn’t judge us to the extent He could. Even though we deserve bad things, God doesn’t give them to us.
So, He is waiting.
Oh, man. We don’t like to wait. Especially if it is Christmas morning and we think we have all these wonderful gifts under the tree.
Aren’t we like that? Don’t we want all the good stuff now? And isn’t God supposed to just give us good stuff — regardless if we repent and turn away from our sins?
But God makes us wait.
One of the commentaries I read brought up a good point. Have you ever set a goal to seek God more — maybe read your Bible more, maybe pray more? And you are doing it!
But God doesn’t appear to have been invited to the meeting. What is He waiting on there?!?
The Reason for the Wait Is Good
“… and is rising up to show you compassion …” (Isa. 30: 18 CSB).
No, God isn’t making us wait — especially when we are seeking Him — to be mean. He is doing it for our good.
God is being gracious. You see, God is waiting for us to change — or be sincere in our change.
Doesn’t waiting make us submit to God more fully? Especially when we bag the pride and ship it off to parts unknown. Especially when we give up our temper tantrums trying to have things our own ways.
Instead, we grow. We learn to trust God more. We learn over the course of our days rather than trying to cram at the last minute.
We learn that God isn’t the gum ball machine that spits out the gum ball we demand when we insert our quarter. We learn we can trust Him a lot more than that.
Why? God is compassionate. God rewards us when we wait expectantly. We can — and should — keep praying to Him to address the situation.
To read How Can We Wait Silently While Not Being Silent?, click on the button below.
Yes, God is going to do things in His time with or without our prayers. But He wants us to show we are trusting Him by asking.
Unfortunately, don’t we sometimes not believe God will answer our prayers? We ask, but we really are doubting.
God is going to keep waiting for us to repent and turn to Him until it is time to call us home. Then the waiting will be over.
God Is a Just Judge and Jury
“… for the LORD is a just God. …” (Isa. 30: 18 CSB).
The waiting will be over — which will be good for some but not so good for others. You see, God is a just God.
That means God will be a judging God. “… for the LORD is a God of judgment …” (Isa. 30: 18 KJV). Most of the translations say He is a God of justice.
A couple of the translations say God does what is right (CEV, GNT). Well, yes, He does, but it is more than just doing right.
To me, that kind of whitewashes what God is going to do. I am afraid people reading that will think of the worldview’s definition of God as a loving God who won’t punish anyone. They need to, instead, determine what He really will do.
It isn’t just a matter of doing right or wrong. It is going to be a matter of God having the power to decide what is right and wrong and decide punishment because He has the authority to do so.
If we have not done the ABCs, we deserve punishment. Our relationship with God was broken when Adam and Eve committed the original sin.
The ABCs of Salvation
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
To read How Do We Not Bite When Satan Says Bite?, click the button below.
Yep, that was a long time ago. No, we didn’t have a say in the matter.
So, have you been living like it does matter to you? Have you ABCed?
Are you — in reality — disobeying God? Do you instead have a false confidence that you don’t need Him? Instead of obedience, do you show apathy?
The great thing is that you could have rebelled in the past, but when you come to Him in true repentance, God will save you. “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved” (Rom. 10: 9-10 GNT).
Those Who Wait Will Be Blessed
“… All who wait patiently for Him are happy” (Isa. 30: 18 CSB).
When we truly wait on God — when we give Him control of the situation and not try to do things on our own — we will be blessed. God rewards those who are obedient to Him.
We may have to wait while we are seeking what God has next in store for us. We may have to wait while we are working for Him to harvest on His timetable. We may have to be patient while we are in the midst of the trial.
But God will bless us when the time is right. And, more than likely, bless us beyond our wildest imagination.
How Do We Apply This?
One of the things we need to do while waiting is to make sure our attitude is right. We have to be waiting for the right reasons. Are we really being patiently dependent on God — or are we just trying to get what we want out of the situation?
Two verses later on in the chapter tell us what we should be doing. “You people who live in Jerusalem will not weep any more. The LORD is compassionate, and when you cry to him for help, he will answer you” (Isa. 30: 19 GNT).
We have to ask God for His help — repeatedly. We can’t just as once and wait for Him to answer. We have to keep asking.
Verse 22 also has some insight for us. “Then you will treat your idols of silver and gold like garbage; you will throw them away like filthy rags” (Isa. 30: 22 CEV).
Remember, “You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them …” (Ex. 20: 4-5 RSV).
That is connected to the “… have no other gods before me” command (Ex. 20: 3 RSV). It goes hand in hand with the “… love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” greatest commandment (Mt. 22: 37-38 ESV).
It is easier to wait when we are following God’s laws and commandments. When we are secure in the palm of God’s hand, waiting doesn’t seem like waiting.
So, the moral of the story is to keep seeking God while we are waiting for Him. Just let Him work; don’t try to hurry Him along. He is operating out of His love for us.
Loving Father. We are sorry when we get impatient waiting for You to answer or prayers and work in our lives. Instead, we want to seek You and Your Will and obey You in everything You ask of us. We claim the blessings that You have for us today. We put our faith and trust in You and rest in the palm of Your hand. Amen.
What do you think? What area in your life is where you find it hardest to wait for God? What three things can you do to trust God more in that area?
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