Waiting on God is one of the hardest lessons I had to learn on my journey. There were times when I waited on God and heaven seemed closed up to me. Those times when I prayed and prayed and then waited and waited for God’s answers to arrive.

  One of the most helpful things I learned about times of waiting, though, is that waiting upon God is not meant to be passive. The Hebrew word for wait upon means to wait for, to look for, to hope for. It involves a confident expectation because the One we are waiting on hears and answers prayer and is faithful.  

  At a time when I was so very weak and so very sick, God brought Isaiah 40:31 to my mind time and again---But they that wait upon 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 (TLB). 

  Over time, I came to understand that Isaiah 40:31 was God’s personal promise to me; if I waited on Him, He would renew my strength and more. As I waited in faith for that promise to be fulfilled (which it ultimately was), I pondered it daily. 

  No matter what our circumstances are, we can ask God to give us a personal word/promise from Scripture to hang on to in the wait. And a word from God is one that we should confidently expect to come to pass. It’s also one that can help us to persevere during our times of waiting. 

  Living in this fast-paced world can make waiting on anything hard to do. But when we wait on God, He helps us wait as we look to Him and trust . . .  one day at a time. He always sees us and is at work on our behalf. Even when it seems like heaven is closed up to us.