Isaiah 30:15-18 -- On Waiting

"For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him."
Isaiah 30:15-18


This chapter is another one talking about the time leading up to the second coming, and something that we can apply to our lives.  In the first verse, God says basically that we should calm down.  If we just keep doing the right things, things will work out.  But do we listen?  Typically, no.  We get freaked out, and we want to do something dramatic in order to feel better, so instead of sticking it out, staying quiet and confident, we run.

It reminds me of Matthew 23:37 (and similar verses in 3 Nephi 10 and elsewhere): "how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"  God keeps trying to gather us and calm us down, but instead we freak out and scatter.

"Therefore will the Lord wait."  I think that part helps us because, unlike us, God is patient, and he can wait until we realize that we need to come back.  It also helps because if he didn't wait, and he judged us now, in our freaked out and running state, we wouldn't have learned very much.  God wants to wait, and do everything that he does so that he can have mercy on us.  And we're blessed if we learn to calm down a little, and wait for him.  It's again about being patient, and trusting that he will do as he says.

Can we see our trials as necessary learning experiences--as the middle of the story--and still trust that things will work out in the end?  Or do we get scared and think that each of them is the end of the world and that we can't go on?  Can we trust God and gather to him instead of scattering at the first breath of opposition?  Can we wait with confidence for his return?  Today, let's work on it.  Let's believe in and trust God, and wait for him as he waits patiently for us to figure it out and do the right thing.