Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Do you like waiting? If you're anything like me, I am not a fan of waiting. I feel like I'm wasting my time. It's like, what's going on? We need to get moving. We got stuff to do. It's like, what's taking so long? I am not a fan of waiting, but what's interesting is we tend to wait, and we're okay with waiting, for the person that is the most significant to the situation at hand.
The Waiting Room Illustration
I'll give you an illustration. Imagine sitting in the waiting room of a medical facility because you're going to have a procedure done—or it could be the dentist. You're going to have a procedure done and you're sitting in the waiting room. It's taking time. You keep checking your watch. It's like, okay, what is going on? I'm done waiting. I know this is a waiting room, but I'm done waiting. You go up to the counter and you tell the receptionist, "Hey, it doesn't look like you're busy right now. You're just kind of sitting, waiting for someone else to come in. Can you take me back to the room and, you know, can you perform the surgery for me? Can you remove the tooth that I need extracted?"
You would think that that's absurd and ridiculous. Well, I would love to use that lens as we review and consider our Verse of the Day today.
It's Isaiah chapter 64, verse 4. It says, "For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like You, who works for those who wait for Him!"
We Don't Wait for God
Now, the significance of that part is just like the illustration I was talking about, we can tend to find ourselves in a waiting room of life, and it could be almost on a daily basis where we want to act, we want to move forward, we want to make decisions. We want to do this. We want to do that. We want to move forward in our life and see progress and be successful. Sometimes we actually defer to and default to going up and talking to the receptionist because it's available and the person may be available in your life, or the situation may be available in your life, or what you deem to be a tool in your life to make progress is available in your life.
Actually the most significant person in the most significant relationship in our life, we don't actually deem necessary to wait for God to be present in it. I'll tell you what, this has been very convicting for me as I've considered this passage, as I've considered this verse and what this actually means because of that same impatience of not liking the opportunity to wait. Yes, I said opportunity to wait, because when we have the opportunity to wait for God, when God shows up, all of a sudden it's not just about David doing this work. It's not just about using the tools around me or getting a receptionist to do something that they aren't the best at, that only God could do this, that when He shows up, it's always worth the wait.
No Eye Has Seen a God Like You
But it's not just the waiting. I want to focus on the first part of this verse as well, because it's just as powerful, just as impactful because it says, "For since the world began, no ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like You." Now catch this. The Bible itself says no one has seen God. What Isaiah is saying here when he says that since the world began, "No ear has heard, and no eye has seen a God like You"—if the Bible also says no one has seen God, what's the power? Catch this. That's because it says, "Who works for those who wait for Him."
Hebrews chapter 11 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Even though the Bible says no one has seen God, we can easily see the evidence of God at work. When we wait for Him, it increases our faith even more because we're able to see the evidence of our God at work. That's the beauty of when we wait for Him. Those that don't wait for Him, they see their own hand. They see the task and talent and abilities of somebody else at work, or their own abilities and skills at work. But when God shows up and those that are willing to wait for Him—when He shows up, we're able to see Him at work.
Be Willing to Wait
When they can't see God, when they can't see Him at work, when they can't hear Him, they can't sense Him—you have the ability to experience that because you find value in waiting for the one that's the most important in our life today to show up.
I would encourage you, be willing to wait for Him to show up. Be willing to be patient for His presence, because when He shows up, you're able to see Him at work and hear Him as He speaks. May you be willing to be patient, to listen and hear from Him. May you be willing to be patient, to listen and see Him today at work in your life.
