Wait = Love

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”-the things God has prepared for those who love him-these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.  1 Corinthians 2:9-10

 Paul here is quoting from the Old Testament in Isaiah. The interesting thing about this verse is that Paul changes one word in this verse and replaces it with another.

Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.  Isaiah 64:4 

Notice what was changed. Paul replaced wait for love. Why would he do this? Did Paul misquote? Maybe he got it wrong. I don’t think so. Paul would not replace the words in the original verse unless it meant the same thing. Wait on God–Love God.

What does it mean to wait? Webster defines wait as to stay in a place until an expected event happens, until someone arrives, until it is your turn to do something.

I find these definitions interesting. Wait–to stay in place until an expected event happens. Has God given you a promise? If you have a promise from God, shouldn’t we stay in place with an expectation that what God has promised will come about? Wait–until someone arrives. Are you praying for a spouse to come home? A child? Wait–until it is your turn to do something. Sometimes wait mean to do something–seek changes in your life, maybe forgive, or possibly serve others.

Max Lucado said, “that the circumstances we are asking God to change are possibly the circumstances that God is using to change us.” Maybe there is a change that needs to takes place in your own life and God is using this circumstance for you to do something. What is it that you need to do?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 

Do not forget that through our own trials, we can still be a comfort to others. People are watching you. People are looking at how you face the storms in your own life, the same storms that others are facing. The road you walk may lead others to Jesus, they may find the same comfort you have received, through your walk with God. This is a hard road, no doubt, but God is right here, reaching out wanting you to have more.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Romans 12:12 

What does it mean to love? Webster defines love as devotion, unselfish loyalty, the fatherly concern of God for humankind. In the Bible, God commands us to love. Knowing this, love is not just an emotion, it is something we choose, we are commanded to love. Love God with all your heart, soul and strength, then to love your neighbor as yourself–a command, a choice you have to make.

Love–devotion, unselfish loyalty. What does this mean? I take it to mean that regardless what is said to me, what is done to me or how I feel, that I will be devoted to my wife, I will forgive her and stand by her through the storm and wait expectantly on God to work and for her to come home. There is not a time table on devotion and unselfish loyalty.

Love–the fatherly concern of God for humankind. What is it that God wants from you? God created us for Himself, to have a relationship with Him. God loved us so much that he sent His only son, Jesus (God in flesh), to bear the weight of all the sins of the world and carry them to the cross. Sin so heavy, that God had to pour out the full force of his wrath on that sin, and Jesus carried it all for us. God loves us that much–fatherly concern and love. What is that God wants from you? To repent and walk away from the sins that hinder a relationship with Him. Only then can we experience the fullness of God in our lives.

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love and of self-control.  2 Timothy 1:7 

I think Paul was trying to tell us that if we love God, we will wait on God. And that waiting requires work on our part. What is it that God wants from you? Are you waiting in expectation? Are your eyes on the circumstance of the storms of your life, or are your eyes on God? What is it that God has prepared for you, your marriage, your family? Is God asking to serve in your church? Your community? To help someone walking down the same road you are? The interesting aspect of this journey for me is the number of people that God has brought into my life on the same journey as I am on. In each person, he has strengthened me, allowing me an opportunity to share my faith and my stand with others, my stand for my covenant bride, a woman I love more than myself, placing her needs above my own.

If we are to love God, we have to seek Him, have faith in Him.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.  Hebrews 11:6 

Seek God and all His goodness through this season. He loves you, your spouse and your children more than we could ever comprehend. Surrender to Him and wait on God–expectantly, waiting for someone to arrive, until it is time for you to do something. Develop a love relationship with God–with devotion and unselfish loyalty.

Standing and waiting in love.

David in Texas