Have you ever had a day when everything appeared to go wrong? Such days are troublesome and trying and they usually prevail upon the spirit. Those are the days when the car breaks down, the food burns, the children get sick, a fuse blows, the telephone keeps ringing, the newspaper gets wet, and there is a network difficulty in the middle of the “Secret Storm.”

Those are the days when your head begins to pound, your patience gets short, and you throw up your hands in defeat and declare “I’m at the end of my rope.” If you are honest with yourself, on those types of days, you are at your wit’s end.

For days such as those, I want to remind you to hold on a little while longer! God is still on the throne, and He knows your needs.  As the old adage goes, “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on!” Help is on the way! Hold on and wait upon the Lord!

While you are waiting, hold on to your trust, hold on to your faith, and hold on to your patience!

“But they that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

 

WE SHOULD HOLD ON TO OUR TRUST

Our text first considers that we should hold on to our trust.

Isaiah was a prophet who preached constantly to the Southern Kingdom about repentance. In his lifetime he had watched as the armies of Assyria had destroyed the Northern kingdom and he preached words of encouragement to Jerusalem as it was being besieged by Assyrian troops.

Though the enemy was all around them with several hundred thousand soldiers; though the chances of military victory were nil and survival slim, Isaiah, at this time the trusted confidant of King Hezekiah, admonished them to keep the faith and hold on!

Jerusalem had reached the end of its rope! The enemy was in front of them and death seemed certain. Their resources were depleted, and their options were used. Their food supplies were running low and their soldiers were fatigued. Jerusalem, at the end of its rope, heard Isaiah encouraging them not to let go of their faith in God but to virtually tie a knot in the rope of their hope and hold on!

 Trusting in the Lord is the option that overpowers all other options!

Though their circumstances ridiculed his very words, still Isaiah told the virtues of depending on God. Every child of God understands this circumstance. He or She understands what it means to be surrounded by problems and troubles and to have only a few options left. But while every child of God knows the feeling of frustration that accompanies this circumstance, every child of God also knows that trusting in the Lord is the option that overpowers all other options.

Waiting for the will of the Lord is not an easy thing for most of us to do. We tend to like our answers neat and tidy, and above all, quick. Yet God often requires us to wait on Him, which makes some of us uncomfortable, if not downright jittery.

Over the years, I have learned that it is always best to wait on God for as long as necessary, as it will guard us against reacting in an irrational way and making poor decisions with disastrous results. The children of Israel often responded to God in rash fashion, but in this case, they got it right. They waited for His direction.

Are you facing fiery furnaces? Trust in the Lord! He will help us come through without a tinge.

Are you facing vast seas of trouble? Trust in the Lord! He will roll back Red Seas of adversity and allow you to cross on dry ground.

To trust in the Lord is to believe that no matter what comes your way, God can handle the situation and will give you strength to face the adversity. No wonder the songwriter wrote “I will trust in the Lord, until I die!”

Isaiah boldly pronounced, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”

Hold on! For they shall mount up on wings as Eagles!

Hold on! For they shall run and not get weary!

Hold on! For they shall walk and not faint!

 

WE SHOULD HOLD ON TO OUR FAITH

Trust is good to hold on to, but we will have a double grip if we tie a second knot, just in case the first one slips by us. That second knot should be the knot of faith.

The most striking and impressive example of faith in God is the experience of Abraham.

Abraham received a promise from God…

Abraham received a promise from God that his family would grow and multiply. The promise brought him great joy and inspiration. As the years passed, however, it seemed that the promise would not be kept. Age and its various associated problems began to take its toll. Even Abraham’s friends began to doubt that God’s promise would be kept.  As problems began to beset him from all sides, many of those around him lost faith in God’s promise, even his wife laughed at the thought of children being born at her age. Abraham kept the faith and despite the impossibility of the moment, he depended on God to keep his word!

Faith is not knowing how we are going to solve our problem but knowing God will make a way! Faith is driving blindly into the future guided only by the Word of God, because David has reminded us that “thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”

With faith, millions of Christians have:

  –fought all of their battles

  –resisted all of their temptations

  –endured all of their trials

  –survived all of their tests

  –bore all of their burdens

  –performed all of their ministries.

Through faith, children of God have the inspiration to:

  –resolve their difficulties

  –seize their opportunities

  –tackle their responsibilities

  –withstand their troubles

  –solve their problems

  –confront their enemies.

  –reach their goals

  –conquer their fears

  Abraham held on to his faith and held on to God’s promise!

 

WE SHOULD HOLD ON TO OUR PATIENCE

Finally, our text suggests that we should tie a knot in the rope of patience.

Job was perfect and upright…

Job was a perfect and upright man who suffered many losses as a test of his loyalty to God. Job lost members of his family in tragic deaths. Job lost huge amounts of his material wealth to thieves and enemies.  Job lost his physical health. Nevertheless, through all of his troubles, Job remained faithful to God and patiently waited on God to hear and answer his prayers. Although he became impatient with the advice he received from his friends, he refused to give up on God!

There is strength in waiting on the Lord…

We live in a right now world!

We want material success –right now!

We want answers to questions–right now!

We want solutions to problems–right now

We want answers to questions–right now!

Many of us are impatient. We are so impatient that:

–We can’t wait for water to boil!

–We can’t wait for the car to warm in the winter!

–We can’t wait for the train to clear the track!

–We can’t wait until the end of a church service!

But Isaiah reminds us that they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.

  There is strength in waiting on the Lord!

  There is power in waiting on the Lord!

Job declared, “All the days of my appointed time, I will wait until my change comes.”

 

Wait:

–Though men would push you to be hasty

–Though it seems like the time is too long

–Though men would call you foolish

Wait because Jesus commanded us to, “Watch ye therefore, ye know not the day” that He will return. Wait because one day He’s coming back again!

Wait just a little while longer and everything will be alright!

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