“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives POWER to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases STRENGTH. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But THOSE WHO WAIT (qâvâh) ON THE LORD Shall RENEW their strength; They shall MOUNT UP with wings like eagle they shall RUN and not be weary, they shall WALK and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)
FROM THIS WORD “WAIT” I CAN SEE THREE LEVELS OF INTIMACY IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD.
- 1ST LEVEL: “If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard work I will WAIT (yachal: to hope) for the time when you give me NEW LIFE.” (Job 14:14) Not really doing any kind of service just trusting.
- 2ND LEVEL: “…the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to WAIT (tsaba’: to serve, perform, the sense of summoning one’s wishes) upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:” (Num. 8:24) This kind of waiting is doing something but not necessarily being devoted to it.
- 3RD LEVEL: “THOSE WHO WAIT (qâvâh: to bind together by twisting, to become one with) ON THE LORD Shall RENEW their strength.” (Isaiah 40:31) This is the level when a close, INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP is involved. This is what the Lord desires from us.
We must become aware of the purpose of our Christian life, which is to PURSUE AND LIVE IN AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD! Salvation is our rescue from the sentence of death because of sin, but INTIMACY WITH GOD IS TO DEFINE OUR LIFE WITH HIM. “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom YOU HAVE GIVEN ME, FOR THEY ARE YOURS. AND ALL MINE ARE YOURS, AND YOURS ARE MINE, and I AM glorified in them…I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that THEY ALL MAY BE ONE, AS YOU, FATHER, ARE IN ME, AND I IN YOU; that THEY ALSO MAY BE ONE IN US, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I HAVE GIVEN THEM, that THEY MAY BE ONE JUST AS WE ARE ONE…” (John 17: 9-10, 20-22)
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham