Just You Wait!
How you receive this phrase?
“Just you wait!”
Do you hear this with a tone that warns of impending danger or in excited anticipation of a promise not yet fulfilled?
Waiting isn’t something most of us are inherently good at. We spend a great deal of our time trying to avoid waiting. Internet searches, Amazon next day shipping, Instant Messaging, and 24 hour news gives us access to practically anything we want exactly when we want it.
But what happens when we can’t speed up the process? How do you respond?
Isaiah 40:31 is quoted often in our house. “They who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not grow faint.”
Currently, I am in a walking boot after breaking my ankle in late September. I am waiting for the bones that have been screwed back together to fully heal. Aside from God deciding to do a miracle (which He certainly could!), I have to wait before I start walking around without the support of the boot or I risk undoing what the surgeon did.
While I am waiting to be able to walk on it, the therapist gave me some stretches and strengthening exercises to do. But, even he admitted, there isn’t much to do until I am cleared to walk without the boot.
During this time of waiting, I have two options.
I can do nothing until the doctor clears me to walk. While I am wearing the boot, my ankle is fully immobilized. It can’t flex in any direction. For the next four weeks, it would be easy to keep the boot on and not bother doing any of the exercises. I can passively wait for the healing to take place and do all the work once I am released to walk normally.
The difficulty with this is when I take the boot off, my ankle is stiff. It has been held in one place all day long, and doesn’t have much flexibility. If I do nothing for the next few weeks, I will have a hard time getting that flexibility and strength back. I will still be able to walk and the bones will be healed, but I will have much more work to do once the boot comes off for good.
OR
I can actively prepare myself for being able to walk. Even though I am not able to stand or walk on my ankle without the support of the boot, there are many things I can be doing to strengthen my ankle. I have resistance bands to help with strength and to keep the muscles from atrophy. I have been given exercises that move the joint in every direction to loosen the tendons that tightened up with disuse.
This kind of active waiting prepares me to take that first step outside the boot without pain and sets me up to be back to normal faster.
The same happens in life. We can passively wait for things to happen or we can do things that will prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies for what is yet to come. Even if that ‘yet to come’ doesn’t happen in our life time.
This is the beauty of hope. It strengthens our faith to the point we trust Him even if we never live to see the fulfillment of His promises. Hebrews chapter 11 is called the ‘faith’ chapter, but for me it is the HOPE chapter. It ends with these verses: Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
If you read all of chapter 11, the people mentioned there had faith that was so strong it sustained them though torture, famine, exile, and war. They faced down giants, took on kings and Pharaohs, slept with lions, and stood faithfully on the promises God had made them no matter the odds.
And yet - the Bible says they never saw those promises fulfilled because God had something even better in mind! God was going to give the world Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of all the promises He’s ever made. And now, we’re living in the days they longed for, and yet - we are also waiting for something better!
This world is not all there is. When Jesus was preparing to leave this earth and ascend back into heaven, He told His disciples that He was going to prepare a place for us in heaven. Some call it a mansion, or a house, or a room - whatever it is, it will be perfect. No more tears, no more pain, no more chaos. That is the promise we are waiting for!
And when that place in Heaven is ready for us, Jesus will come get us and destroy the world that rejected Him. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 is a promise given to those who died without seeing the promises fulfilled. They will be the first to meet Him in the air, giving us witness to the hope that He always keeps His promises! Then we who are still alive will join them, and we will all be changed.
We are living in a time of the Already and the Not Yet. So what do we do while we wait for Him to come the second time?
Just like with my ankle, we have two choices:
We can sit and wait for Him to come pull us out of the mess and heartache and pain that this world has become. We can bemoan our difficulties and complain about our daily struggles while wondering why He is allowing bad things to happen.
We can look at the world and say, “Just you wait! When the Lord comes back, He’s going to get me out of here!”
OR
We can trust that He is with us in our struggles. We can rely on His joy in us to be our strength when things aren’t going the way we want them to. We can go out into the world and share the hope of His salvation with others who are struggling in their own lives.
We can look at the world and say, “Just you wait! Let me tell you about all the Lord is preparing for those who love Him!”
If you find value in the free content I create and you want to help me create more would you buy me a coffee?
It is an easy way to make a one time donation of any amount.
Even a couple dollars goes a long way toward helping me do what I love.