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Friday, September 5, 2008

Waiting On God

It's not always easy. In fact, it's rarely easy in my experience. But, it is a necessity. At least it is if you want to follow God and His will. There are several great scriptures about waiting on the Lord, but my favorite comes from Isaiah chapter 40.
28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for 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.

That comes from the NRSV, by the way. It's also the basis of the song "Everlasting God" by Chris Tomlin. He's one of a couple of different guys who sings it anyway. That song was my personal theme song back in the summer of 07. I may pull it back out. Seems fitting for these times, as well.

I bring up waiting on Lord, because when he speaks something, he doesn't always give a sense of timing. He may have said to me, "Preach for me," but he didn't say, "quit your job at the radio station and start preaching anywhere and everywhere you can."

In the meantime, I will be preaching this coming Sunday in the church in which I grew up. I spoke there a month or two ago, but I hope to do a better job of it this time. I think I have a little more "authority" this time around. You know, a command from God and all.

I also found some quotes that are interesting. John Wesley had considered giving up preaching when he spoke with Boehler. Boehler's advice was to, "Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith." And then a quote that I attributed to Wesley, but actually came from St. Francis of Assisi: "Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

So, there you go. I'm getting stronger right now. (from waiting on the Lord, natch) Peace be to you, and check out my wife's pics with her new camera. She's very excited. Until we meet again, I'll be found waiting on God.

2 comments:

Babione 6 said...

You just want people to visit my blog so they will see your sexy picture. ;-)

Waiting with you,
Bridy

Anonymous said...

Hey man - I like the blog - just discovered it! I'll give you a little backstory on "Everlasting God". It's written by a worship leader I know named Brenton Brown, an awesome guy from South Africa. Both he and his wife are in their 30's, and both suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, where they have very little strength. When they allow themselves to wear down, the get very sick and are out of commission for days. It's a real challenge, as it makes touring and playing concerts/etc almost impossible, as the travel and schedule is too tough. So when he sings "strength will rise as we wait upon the lord", he means it literally. Same with "you're the defender of the weak". He's lacked strength and been weak for years now, and that song his continual statement of faith in the face of that.


It's one of my favorite worship songs of the last few years. I find myself sometimes thinking of people like Brenton and taking the lyrics very literally. And I think it makes perfect sense in your situation, as you wait on the Lord to reveal His plan for you and give you strength in the journey. What a terrific song.


One last story on Brenton and the song. Long before the song was recorded he began performing it at worship conferences and such. So all these other worship leader friends of his like Tomlin and Lincoln Brewster are hearing this amazing song and they all start recording it with his permission. It so happens that Lincoln's version was the first one to hit the radio and became a big hit. As a result, Brenton wasn't really able to release the song as a single and it probably hurt his record sales. I doubt he minds too much, as the song has had tremendous impact in the Church and in people's lives.


Whose blog is this? Yours or mine? I'm ending this epic post.