Isaiah 25:9 In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

In reading this chapter I was first struck by the fact that verses 7 and 8 explicitly prophesy that God will destroy death. In my awareness this is the earliest mention of such a thing in the whole Bible, though I may be wrong. This verse seems like a positively tame response to such a reality-shattering thing as that! However, several details are worth noting. In the first place, it starts with “people will say.” This isn’t a prophecy for the immediate hearers, but one for a far future date. It’s also worth noting that both places where the NIV says “trusted,” the Japanese says, “waited in hope.” Our “faith” can get very impatient! We want God’s promises fulfilled NOW! However, the Bible speaks of waiting on God many, many times. We need to remember Peter’s insight: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9) He was perhaps remembering a line from the only Psalm credited to Moses: “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” (Psalm 90:4) The point is, God’s time frame is manifestly different from ours, but He is totally faithful. When we are waiting on Him to act, we aren’t like the play, Waiting for Godot, where Godot never shows up. That’s why we wait in hope. As Hebrews points out, sometimes the fulfillment of God’s promises comes outside of the context of our current physical life, (Hebrews 11:39-40) but that doesn’t make that fulfillment any less certain. That’s what faith is all about. It is when we abandon the boxes into which we have tried to push God and our circumstances that we discover the peace that indeed exceeds human understanding. (Philippians 4:7)

I have a family history of this. My parents arrived in Japan as missionaries in 1934 and 1935, respectively, and labored until the Lord called them home, but they never saw the great harvest of souls that they sought. I have taken up the task, but I too have only seen sparse results. That doesn’t mean that God has been less than faithful! I am not just waiting on God, I am doing so in hope and assurance, and in the meantime He has stuff for me to do. (Ephesians 2:10) I am to keep my focus on Him, even while I am being faithful at the task at hand, whatever that might be. At the very least, it will be glorious when I leave this body!

Father, thank You for the gift of faith. Thank You for speaking through me yesterday, and for all the people who came to our special event. I pray that the impressions they received would be indelible, drawing them steadily toward You, toward repentance and faith for their salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!