“And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.” Isaiah 30:18
I had an “aha” moment while reading that scripture.
I have heard, and have said countless times, “Wait on the LORD.” And for good reason; Scripture repeatedly reminds us to wait on God, trust His timing, and remain faithful while we wait for Him to move.
But as I read Isaiah 30:18, I noticed something I had never really considered before:
The LORD will wait for us.
We are so accustomed to hearing that we are supposed to wait on God that we can easily overlook the incredible truth that God sometimes waits on us.
Isaiah says that the LORD will wait “that he may be gracious unto you.” He is a God of judgment, but He is also rich in mercy; he is patient, longsuffering, and kind. From the first account of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, God does not rush to condemn us. Instead, He gives us space to turn our hearts toward Him.
Sometimes God is waiting for our repentance, or our surrender. And sometimes He is waiting for our yes.
What a beautiful picture of our Savior: He is ready to meet us with grace.
And then Isaiah turns the thought around. The latter part of the verse says, “blessed are all they that wait for him.” We are blessed when we wait on the LORD. So blessing comes on both sides of waiting.
There is blessing when the LORD waits for us, and there is blessing when we wait for the LORD.
Perhaps God has been waiting for your yes. Or maybe He is waiting for you to make your way back into His loving arms; would you make your way back to Him today?
Whatever He is waiting for, He is not waiting with anger; He is waiting with grace. So go to Him today; He will not turn you away.
