The First Today’s Word
“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength” Isaiah 40:31 NASB
This is the first Today’s Word I wrote. It was written in 2003 and has never been published to the web. When Today’s Word started, it was the beginning of a long journey for me; a journey that has taken some decidedly different directions. But some things do not change. Hope in the promises of God is one of these constants. I thought you might like to look back to see how far we have come—and what hasn’t changed along the way.
Wait – The Hebrew root is qawa. It means, “I wait, look for or hope with eager expectation.” Faith is often expressed in patient endurance confidently knowing that God will act. Waiting involves the very essence of a person’s soul. There will come a time when all that God has promised will be realized and fulfilled. In the meanwhile the believer lives by means of his integrity and uprightness as he trusts God’s grace and power. Hope has an eternal home in man’s heart. Hope does not depend on one’s circumstances, history or attitude. Hope is eschatological. As long as there is a future, there is hope. That means that no matter what the current situation, hope exists. And even death is not the end. Hebrews declares that we may hope in spite of death because death is no longer our prison.
God has planted a vineyard in our hearts for the purpose of producing fruit. For everyone in recovery, hope is our lifeblood. But the manifestation of hope takes time. Progress not perfection is the hallmark of those who have learned to wait. God’s promise is real. If we wait on Him, we will see change. We will gain new strength.
Waiting is one of the most difficult things to do in this world. Our culture is completely opposed to waiting. Everything is done as quickly as possible. Even sending out this daily word. We often complain that we can no longer find true craftsmanship and quality. We know that we live with less than perfect results from construction to education. Most of these unpleasant consequences are a direct result of not being willing to wait. But God is not in a hurry. He wants perfect, not just better or best. Learning to wait takes real effort in a world that wants it now. But God tells us that there are great rewards for waiting. Be patient, and prosper.
Topical Index: hope, qawa, Isaiah 40:31
Thank you for sharing! Again such a blessing you are for us.
You could say as the famous Vulcan, Mr. Spock, “Live long and prosper.” It was a Jewish blessing he saw in the Orthodox Jewish Synagogue he went to as a young boy.
In a Washington Post interview with Leonard Nimoy,
“This is the shape of the letter shin,” Nimoy said in the 2013 interview, making the famous “V” gesture. The Hebrew letter shin, he noted, is the first letter in several Hebrew words, including Shaddai (a name for God), Shalom (the word for hello, goodbye and peace) and Shekhinah, which he defined as “the feminine aspect of God who supposedly was created to live among humans.”
Skip, live long and prosper.
Saying goodbye to you, Skip, and this community. Shalom Shalom
Numbers 6:24-26New American Standard Bible (NASB)
24 The Lord bless you, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’
Will miss your long thought over comments. The same blessing from my side. Rejoice in the Lord always…
Laura, I hope you are reading this. I have read your posts and appreciated your beautiful insights and felt the pain of your questions too, I am praying, with Seeker, that YHVH hold you and keep you , and continue to make His face shine upon you, and give you peace, when we are absent, one from another. I will continue to pray for your welfare and healing and peace, and hope that your road finds you back here, eating with the rest of your fellow sojourners. I want you to know that your brave voice spoke for many who could not speak, here, but that benefited (I know that I did, anyway) from your heartfelt responses and vulnerable sharing.
Shalom, and I will continue to love you.
Laurita
Skip thank you for today’s post very inspiring,. they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength , they shall mount up with wings as eagles, and as the saying goes patience is a virtue!o mi
Two things come to mind, no three: “Create in me a clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within me”, Davids prayer and mine and I think yours Skip. Second; It is an honor and privilege to have come to find you and this community on line, sincere hearts and minds seeking truth find their true selves and YHVH as they unpack all the clutter of current culture and dysfunction=sin. Third I forgot the third getting caught up in editing for perfection. I laugh because I absolutely love the statement and now using it daily “Perfection is theoretical”. And the third will be; I have written before- genius is the simplification of the complex you, got that in spades friend!
“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength” Isaiah 40:31
What a Difference a Decade Makes
“Progress not perfection is the hallmark of those who have learned to wait.” We are walking this journey called life, together. And we have come a long way.. (baby). I have lived sufficient decades (lol) to say 12 isn’t 2, 22 isn’t 12, 32 isn’t 22, etc. I can perceive “change” by the decade, but maybe not so much by days. Nevertheless, (sometimes slowly, but surely) “change” happens. Either for the better,or for the worse. change will occur.
And as we age, or “mature” or grow old (it beats the alternative!) change becomes even more perceptible, day by day. I am becoming more (shall we say) alert and aware (is this “maturity?”) of the human condition. (ALL have sinned and have fallen short (we have been weighed in the balances and have been found wanting!)
The command has been given, God has spoken: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5.48). May I? When I grow up, I want to be like my Father. I want to be, it is my desire, my will, my aim and my goal to be “godly” or “godlike” – to be holy, and to walk (to live) the walk, not just talk the talk, to walk and to do what is pleasing in the eyes of Him in whom we live and move and have our being. I do want to, it is my desire to “bring into captivity, every thought to the obedience of Christ (my Elder brother, and the Messiah).
But, there is, we must quickly confess, only one “perfect” Person ever to have lived!! So where then is the “how-to” of holiness? ~ “But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.” ~ (1 Corinthians 2.16)
And, He has promised, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” (Psalm 32.8)
Is this ever a good time to squeeze in a “Selah!” [Please] Stop. And think about this.
May I offer another possible view of this Hebrew word in the form of a dialogue taken from a potental novel manuscript:
“All you have to do is wait? How long do you need to wait? Does it really work?” Colleen’s eyes moved from Leah to a large plague hanging on the wall. Leah’s eyes, too, were focused on the clay square. Deeply etched in the clay were these words:
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.
Leah read the verse aloud. “This word ‘wait,’ what does that mean to you?”
“Delay. I hate waiting.”
Leah moved over to the table and opened the Strong’s Concordance. She motioned Colleen to the chair beside her. “Look in the concordance for the word ‘wait’ just as you would in a dictionary. When you find it, look down the listing until you come to the Bible verse reference you are looking for, which in this case is Isaiah 40:31.”
Colleen ran her finger down the page. “There are lots of different numbers in the listing of ‘wait.’ Oh, our number is 6960.”
“Okay, in Strong’s Concordance, all Old Testament word definitions are listed by number in the back of the book under the Hebrew section.”
Colleen quickly found 6960. “The word is spelled q a v a h, but is pronounced kaw-vaw’ and it means … whoa … the first meaning is, to bind together perhaps by twisting.” Her attention caught, Colleen sat up straighter. “That changes what I thought. I thought waiting meant to sit around and try to be patient.”
“Now what are you thinking? That it means ‘to restrain?’”
“Somehow probably. Could it mean a forced waiting?”
Leah pulled open another large book. “This is an expanded concordance. One of the definitions here adds: ‘creates an expectant attitude—a forward look with assurance.’ So in this verse, God is definitely not saying, ‘ just sit down.’ I’m thinking this word qavah is telling us to twist ourselves up in God, with-in His Word.”
Colleen nodded. “I know a bit about twisting. In the making of some Irish lace, twisting is a way of inter-weaving. When its done properly, you can’t recognize one strand from another.” Suddenly, her eyes looked like two green lights turned on. “I see it! It means a person binding together his own words with God’s Words until they become so much a part of God’s Words, no one can tell the difference. It’s like inter-weaving”
“Excellent insight,” Leah happily acknowledged. “It is at that point, Colleen, when a person’s strength is truly renewed.”
“Slahn-chə!” Colleen grinned, “My toast to your good health and renewed strength. If this is hagah havera, I think I like it.”
This was worthy of sending when it was written.
I once read God does not call the perfect He perfects the called. Does God really want perfect or is it holy… As previously discussed on an earlier block.
I was wondering if this is similar to patience as in Job’s life. Or the calling of those in Genesis as the NT callings and responses seem to be instantaneous…
Now hope, faith and charity remains. Would waiting then require the practicing of charity through faith as these are manifestations of hope…
Waiting is hard.. But good things happen when we put God first even if it seems like we are going around and around sometimes.
Shalom Shalom
In further consideration of the scripture “Be perfect” I generally see this as a benediction, one imparting the requisite power necessary for attainment by the virtue of the one speaking. If we but wait, trust, and belive in the word and it’s speaker.