Instant Results

I recently had a chance to spend some time with some girls exercising. They wanted to exercise before swimming so they would look better in their swimsuits. I had to laugh because they thought their exercise would have instant results. I wish! As I thought more about it, I determined that more people would probably stick with exercising if they did see instant results. Most of the time, people get tired of getting up early or carving out time at the end of a work day for exercise because it can take up to 4 weeks to see results. Who wants to work that hard and wait that long? The struggle is real!

This is not unlike waiting on God. God plants a seed inside us-an idea, thought, or desire for our future. We begin praying and seeking Him concerning this and waiting for the fulfillment. It’s also true when praying for healing or direction. We read, pray, seek-waiting for the situation to be resolved. Most of the time the results are not instant and not even soon. Then we get distracted and discouraged because the results allude us-much like exercising to get in shape. The key to success in exercise is a daily commitment to set aside time to act. The same is true for success in life. We must have a daily commitment to God to seek Him and have Him help us stay focused on the end result.

Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait for the Lord (who expect, look for and hope in Him) will gain new strength and renew their power; they will lift up their wings (and rise up close to God) like eagles (rising toward the sun); they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.) Amplifed version

I’ve heard this verse many times, but never read it in this version. There were two things that caught my attention. First, waiting here is described as expecting, looking for and hoping in God. The words in bold are verbs, which indicate action. That means that I’m supposed to be doing something while I wait. To use the exercise reference, I’m supposed to continue exercising while I wait for the results.

Second, it says that those who wait will gain new strength and renew their power. This too can reference exercise because I gain strength and power as I exercise. On a spiritual note, God doesn’t want us to wait and be weak. He gives us new strength and power so we can wait. He knows it won’t be easy when we don’t see those instant results. The good news is He doesn’t want us to survive during the wait. He wants us to thrive during the wait with new strength and renewed power!