Learning to Wait

Introduction

Competition occurs in multiple areas of life. Certainly with sports we understand that competition is inherent; however, we may not be as aware of competition in other areas. Business world is filled with competition. Companies selling the same product compete for customers. Internally, there is competition to be the best in order to get the promotion or raise or accolades. Competition exists in schools. Students go against each other academically, and relationally. Competition for grades. Competition for friends. Competition for status. There is competition politically; competition in nature. Animals compete for the same food and water. Competition abounds.

Competitors in the sports arena want to win. This we understand. Tim Duncan was a professional basketball player. He played his entire 19 year career with the San Antonio Spurs. Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020, Duncan is considered by many to be the best power forward to ever play the game. He is listed as one of the top 75 players of all time in the NBA. He is the only player in the history of basketball to be selected to the All-NBA team and the All-Defensive Team for 13 consecutive years. Duncan was a quiet man on and off the court. Great competitor but also a great teacher.

Etan Thomas tells the story about playing against Duncan in one game. Thomas played 11 years in the NBA. Never considered at the same level as Duncan, Thomas played most of those 11 years for the Washington Wizards. Here is Thomas’ story:

Here is my Tim Duncan story. So we’re playing the Spurs and I get the ball on the post. I inside pivot and sweep to the middle for my jump hook and he blocks it. So as we are running down the court he says to me “that was a good move but you have to get more into my body so you can either draw the foul or I can’t block it”. So I didn’t know if he was talking noise or what so just kind of looked at him confused and said ok. Then, a few plays later I did it again got more into his body and he couldn’t block it. I missed the shot and he looked at me and said much better and kept playing lol.

What makes this story so intriguing is that Duncan wanted something better for Thomas. Explaining to another player how to play better didn’t take away from his ability or result in a loss of confidence. Duncan wanted something better for his opponent.

What does God really want from you? What does God really want to give you? How you answer those questions probably says something about your faith. Through Isaiah we are going to be reminded of what God wants to give us and then we can decide to trust Him.

Same Old Song

Lots of repetition in Isaiah. But then there is a lot of mistrust generation after generation. Lessons learned in one generation are not automatically preserved in the next. Ahaz reached out to Assyria for protection. Even after God through Isaiah told him that the consequences would be terrible for the nation and his people, Ahaz still begged for Assyria to come to his defense. Now Hezekiah has a similar predicament. The consequence of asking for Assyria to come to their defense is that Assyria didn’t want to defend Jerusalem, Assyria wanted Jerusalem. Ahaz acted in short-sighted ways. Now Hezekiah is thinking about appealing to Egypt for protection from Assyria. The father acted without faith. His son is thinking about acting without faith. But at the moment it doesn’t seem to be faithless. It seems to be expedient. It feels like the right thing to do at the moment because the future is so unpredictably predictable.

Not much has changed has it? Our thought processes and emotional turmoil often imagines an unpredictable future. So we act in the moment trying to deal with a future that we cannot predict. And that isn’t necessarily bad. You have to prepare for the future to a certain degree but then when the future is so unpredictable then the planning can be quite consuming. We have to think about as many scenarios as we can and plan for them. A few sleepless nights and a few setbacks and worry sets in with a vengeance.

Think about Hezekiah. He is responsible for an entire nation. He doesn’t want anything bad to happen to Jerusalem. What is he supposed to do? Nothing or something? His army isn’t strong enough to deal with Assyria. In his mind reaching out to Egypt is the something that will save Jerusalem. And then Isaiah shows up in chapter 31. “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help…. But do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord.”

Do something or do nothing. Egypt is something. Isaiah says trusting God is something too. But Egypt we can see. God we cannot. Horses are flesh. God is spirit. It is so much easier to trust what you see than what you don’t see. Relationships are like that. Words are spoken about loyalty and love and trust and then we wait to see the actions that support the words. And if the actions don’t come quickly enough, then we begin to doubt. Children learn to trust through the interaction with parents. A promise made and kept solidifies trust. We tell our children not to worry and yet they do. Why? Because the situation demands it. What do you do with those words? Someone says to you “don’t worry.” Is there not a part of you that wants to say with great fervor, “you don’t understand. The situation demands it.”

It is hard to trust what you do not see. God repeats through Isaiah, tell the people “I’m here.” And the people look out at the Assyrian army and food is rationed and guards are on alert and people are scrambling for protection and the scene requires the question, “if you are here, why are they there?”

What Does Trust Look Like?

And we have all been there. Maybe you are there today. You hear that God is near. You hear to trust him. You hear that he loves you and you want to scream, “then why are things as they are”? Turn back to Isaiah 30:15—18. All of this talk about trusting God and what we want and need is for someone to define it for us. Give us a picture of what trust looks like. So let’s try this.

“In quietness and trust is your strength but you would have none of it.” Because we value doing something rather than nothing, we think that trust is nothing. So Jerusalem went after fast horses to protect them. God assures them that the Assyrians are faster. If we want to learn to trust God, then we have to be willing to live in truth rather than live in lies. And the lies infiltrate easily.

You know you need more money to make it in this world. You feel the financial pressures so what do you do? Some people just steal which is a clear and obvious sign of not trusting God. Some people spend more time working and the extra income gives relief except the extra money is used to buy more stuff and how is that trusting God?

You are lonely and you know you were created for relationship. Some will relieve their loneliness through sexual means. This isn’t trusting God. Others will try to find someone to be in a relationship with and will give their heart to someone who doesn’t love God. How is this trusting God?

Look at verse 18. The Lord longs to be gracious to you, but he must wait until you are ready to receive that grace. God wants to bless your life, but he has to wait until you are ready to trust him. He longs to be gracious and compassionate. The word for “longs” is the word for “wait.” The NIV is capturing the sense of the word. God waits longingly to be gracious to you.

Trusting God means waiting on him to act. Waiting is something. It is difficult. It is trying. It drives us to despair because waiting feels like nothing. In the waiting we pray. In the waiting we carry on with life. In the waiting we decide to trust and we refuse to go around that for a temporary and short-term solution. Waiting means that we are depending on God rather than our wisdom. Trusting God is something greater than trusting what you can see. Waiting is harder than doing something that goes around your trust. Dependence on God rather than expressing your independence is not easy.

Every sin occurs because we set aside our trust in God and place our trust in something short-term that makes us feel better in the moment. Trusting God means saying no to sin and the lies that accompany it. Trusting God means depending on him rather than your wisdom.

On a day like this 2000 years ago, Jesus rode into Jerusalem and people shouted praise. In a few short days, he would be betrayed, abandoned, and crucified. On that day 2000 years ago, Jesus knew what was coming and he trusted God instead of listening to his desires to run away. He showed us dependence and trust. He showed us what we can do.

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