Now that we are talking about strength it jumps out at me everywhere. A devotional I read this week contained a line from one of the Shepherd-King’s songs: “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14 (NLT)

Maybe it is the season, but I keep thinking about people waiting, and the strength it takes. Not to do the waiting itself, but to keep the heart whole and not despair. To abide–set up a tent– in the presence of God and stay there for the duration, stay focused on His plans and purposes by faith while the days drag on with no resolution. “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

When I look at these women waiting in faith for husbands to turn to Jesus… for children to make wise decisions… for babies they haven’t met yet in faraway countries but already counted as belonging… for answers to “what comes next in life?”…I see focused faith that holds on to God with all their might, because Who else is out there who listens and helps those who wait for Him? It is a kind of desperation of the heart, perhaps, but really when it comes to the deep heart-cries, all that matters is that Someone is listening and Someone has the ability to do something about it.

And when the time drags long and hope falters, and even the fiercest faith burns low, it is His own voice that whispers inside that we are not forgotten: “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait….” Let your heart take courage– the word is hazaq, and in its root form it means to seize, to fasten upon, to make strong. It’s what women do with the strength of desperation. It’s what God does for us when we can’t hold on ourselves– fastens onto us so we won’t fall, can’t slip away into despair– His own strength that circles all around when you could just drop right there and not try any more: “The eternal God is your refuge, and His everlasting arms are under you.” (Deuteronomy 33:27)

I keep reading on down the list of definitions… to heal, repair, make whole… and somehow it is all tying back into Easter. For Christ has come, not just to be with us, but to save us: to repair these sin-bent hearts, to heal these wounds that run so deep, and make us new people that can believe and hope and live in Resurrection strength.

So we will pray for our sisters-in-waiting. We will live in His presence and let our hearts be repaired day by day by the One who makes us strong. And we will keep on waiting, until we see His power at work in our lives. “For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like You, who works for those who wait for Him!” (Isaiah 64:4 NLT)

“Hope is found: You are here.
Our hearts forever sealed
By this love that came for us–
Now we are Yours.

As You rise, we come alive;
The grave has lost, the old is gone,
And You’re making all things new…”
(All Things New, Elevation Worship)