Sorry folks, it seems I’ve been awol on the blog for a while, woops…
This morning the Lord spoke to me out of two passages,
The first was one that he’s recently drawn my attention to, and the second; one that I know well but hadn’t remembered for quite some time,
The first;
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. (Isaiah 40:31)
The second;
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you (Isaiah 26:3)
Winning the battle of the mind is something I wrestle with everyday. Although I know (and can quote) heaps of verses that point to victory, it sometimes seems to be a whole lot easier (and even comfortable, or familiar or ‘normal’) to remain in a negative and somewhat defeated frame of mind. These two passages SCREAM at me from the pages they’re written on. Why? Because I have no strength, because I’m weary and faint, because I function a whole lot more out of anxiety than I do out of peace.
So my question is this; what does it mean to ‘wait’ upon the Lord?
How do I arrive at a place of ‘perfect peace’?
We know that patience is a fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:22), and tere's a lot of things that I’m ‘waiting’ for, but it seems that whilst I’m standing in line, I’m left idle! I feel like I’m on the shelf, collecting dust…waiting… and I feel as though it’s in my ‘waiting’ that I’m becoming defeated, and as long as I’m defeated – my time on the shelf seems to multiply…and so the cycle continues!
So, out comes the trusty Strong’s expanded exhaustive concordance (red letter edition by the way J ),
And here’s the revelation;
To ‘wait’ is ‘to bind together’. It calls for a 'straining of the mind in a certain direction with an expectant attitude…a forward look with assurance'. (Interesting that the word ‘straining’ is used)!
It would seem that Isaiah 26:3 is somewhat of an 'instruction manual' for Isaiah 40:31
To 'wait' according to Isaiah 41:31 is to keep you mind 'stayed', or 'steadfast' upon God, (and it suggests hard work!). The Hebrew word from which we get the word 'wait' also suggests, 'to gather' or 'collect'.
I remember John Maxwell saying that one of the first lessons his father ever taught him when he began to drive a car was this; always keep a good book in the glove box, so that if you're ever left idle in traffic, you can always take it out and redeem your prescious time.
It would seem that his father was teaching him to keep his mind 'stayed' upon the Lord, to gather, and bind, collected thoughts from the word of God, and nowhere else.
Philippians 4:8 says Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things
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