WAITING TO BE GRACIOUS

Is.30:18 – Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.

What an amazing picture David paints of the Lord. David sees the Lord watching our every movement and searching our thoughts, looking for the right moment to extend His compassion on us. Think about those moments in the Bible, Jesus showing up “late” at Lazarus’s tomb, interrupting Paul’s trip to Damascus, His encounter with the funeral procession in Nain, and even His appearance in the storm to Job. We may often think He is late, but His timing is absolute perfection. For the young main in Nain and for Lazarus, there were years added to their lives. As for Paul, this interruption stopped his horribly aggressive behavior and launched him into an international ministry preaching forgiveness and reconciliation. And of course there was Job, the Lord poured out His graciousness on Job restoring double everything he had lost. Here is Dick Mills on today’s verse.

“The Lord is waiting for us and we are waiting for Him. There is time involved in both waitings. The word wait is chakah, and it means to wait full of confidence. It isn’t futility, emptiness, or nothingness. It is waiting with a goal in mind. It has destiny, results, fulfillment, and eager anticipation in mind. In the first part of the verse we read, “The Lord is waiting for us”. He’s looking for opportunities to be gracious to us. He is so full of compassion, long-suffering, and graciousness that He is seeking an opportune time to intervene on our behalf. It was this that David had in mind when he blurted out, “It is time, Oh Lord, for You to work!” (Ps.119:126). David carried the time over in Ps.102:13: “You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for the time to favor her, yes, the set time has come.”

Since the Lord is looking for opportunities to show His graciousness into our lives, I don’t think it is accidental that you are reading today’s devotion. Take this as a word from the Lord, “You will arise and have mercy on Zion, for the time to favor her, yes, the set time has come”. The Lord is pouring His graciousness and His love on His sons and daughters today.