Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
–Isaiah 40:31
There is a difference between believing and trusting. Believing is a momentary action; it happens in an instant. The moment you believe in Christ as your Savior, God takes that bit of faith and He exchanges it for Christ’s righteousness. Believing is a work of the moment, but trusting is having faith in God over a long period of time.
You see that distinction in Psalm 37:4-5: “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.” It is one thing to say, “God, I believe You sent Your Son to save me, and I commit my life to You.” It is altogether different to trust Him over the long haul.
Abraham and Sarah believed in God, but they had trouble trusting God to fulfill His promise to give them a child. They took matters into their own hands, they ran ahead of God, and the result was painful for everybody. And they still did not have their child of promise.
So Abraham and Sarah waited and waited and waited and waited–for fourteen more years, they had to wait for God to fulfill His promise. But it was during that period of waiting that Abraham learned to trust in God. It was that period of waiting that caused him and his wife to be known as the bastions of faith that we still talk about today, four thousand years later. It is waiting on God that produces spiritual maturity in our lives.
Today you might be waiting on God; maybe you have been waiting for quite a while. And you are right on the edge of thinking that God cannot be trusted to carry out His promise and taking matters in your own hands. Do not do it. Do not run ahead of God. Running ahead of God always leads to bad decisions and painful consequences. Instead, wait on the Lord. Remember this: waiting time is not wasted time. While you are waiting on God, He is working in the lives of other people to bring about His plan for your life. But more importantly, while you are waiting on God, He is working in your life to produce that spiritual maturity, that faith, that trust that will sustain you for a lifetime. That is what the prophet Isaiah said: “Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary” (40:31).
