The Perpetual State of Waiting

I’m in a perpetual state of waiting. I believe many of us are. In fact, I’ve yet to meet someone who isn’t waiting for something. And as Christians, aren’t we all in some form or another, waiting to one day meet Jesus?

We’re all waiting for something. And I’m finding in this time of waiting that the most growth occurs, which seems like it would be the other way around.

Waiting is one of the most difficult places for us to be. We’re impatient by nature. Waiting takes patience. Sometimes whole lot of it, too.

But what’s so amazing is that God waits too. Did you know that? Take a look at Isaiah 30:18:

New International Version
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!

English Standard Version
Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.

I included the ESV version as well, which runs very close to the King James translation. Here the words long and wait are used interchangeably. They original Hebrew word is chakah, which means to long, wait, or tarry.

I’m going to make another jump here. I don’t profess to be a Bible scholar, but I found this most interesting. The root of chakah is related to the Hebrew word chaqah, which means carved or engraved in relation to piercing.

Now take a look at Isaiah 49:16:

NIV: See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
ESV: Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;

The original Hebrew word for engraved is chaqah, the same word that’s related to chakah, which means to long or wait.

I know this might be a stretch, but is it possible that God had engraved us on our hands because he longs and waits for us? And for our unbelieving loved ones? I don’t know about you, but that just blows me away. To think not only we are engraved upon God’s hands, those he waits for are as well. Make a mental picture of your unbelieving spouses name engraved upon the hand of God.

And if I may make one more leap. I wonder if that engraving resembles the nails holes, which pierced the hands of Christ. Like the relation between chakah and chaqah.

I hope that gives you chills like it did me. But I have one final connection for you through this. The biggest example we have of God waiting and longing.

God sent his Son Jesus to us at just the right time. He didn’t do it as soon as man fell in the Garden of Eden. He didn’t send the Messiah when the Israelites were captives in Egypt.

No, he waited until the exact moment, longing for us every step of the way with our names engraved on his hands.

God waited to send his Son. For you. For me. And for our unbelieving loved ones.