Waiting Confidently

Feb 2, 2024 | by Anthony Wade

There is a very familiar verse that has been coming up in my spirit for a while now. I would quote it to myself, be thankful for it, and sort of go on about my day. This kept happening over a little stretch of time and, finally, I knew that there was something deeper that the Holy Spirit was trying to show me.

The verse is Isaiah 40:31 and it says, “But those who wait upon 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.”

I don’t know about you, but I have probably known this verse most of my life. It has certainly given me hope and the courage to go on through difficult times in many different seasons of life. And while that’s all good, it wasn’t until here in the last week or so that I gained an even greater comprehension of what the Lord wants to do for us in this.

To put it very simply, this whole chapter is introducing and giving us revelation about Jesus. I won’t go into specifics here today, but if you will go read the entire chapter with that in mind, I believe you will receive that revelation. But, specifically in this verse 31, the Holy Spirit taught me what happens when I “wait” on the Lord and how it helps me to “renew” my strength.

The Hebrew word for wait here is qava. It isn’t just passively waiting for something good to hopefully happen for me one day. Instead, it means to wait, look for, hope, and expect. It is a confident expectancy like we see in so many other places throughout the Word. Another part of the definition is to eagerly look for something. Not only that… here is the best part… it means to bind together or be collected. You see, we are not just supposed to “wait” on the Lord to show up and do something for us. We are supposed to be bound together with Him in expectation of His goodness to manifest in our life at any moment. Really, later in the verse when it says we are to “mount up with wings like eagles," the Amplified does a marvelous job at reinforcing this binding together as it says we are to “lift (our) wings and mount up close to God as eagles mount up to the sun.” What a picture of how we are to be led and bound together to Jesus.

The Hebrew word for renew is halap. It is a strong word that means to pass through, grow up, and to literally change for the better and show newness. You see, when we are bound to Jesus, we change more and more into His image. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that as we see the glory of the Lord Jesus, we are to be changed or transformed into that same image. Romans 8:29 says that it is God’s desire that we be conformed to the image of His Son. When this happens, it says Jesus truly becomes the firstborn among many brethren.

So, allow yourself to receive this revelation today. Go read that verse of scripture for yourself and determine that you are not just going to see yourself as a pitiful, broken person who is waiting on the Lord to show up and save the day. Rather, see yourself as the confident new creation who is linked and forever bound to your big brother, Jesus, being renewed and changed more and more into His image. The life He has belongs to you. Step into it and receive it by faith today!

Pastor Anthony