my rights

Isaiah 40:27

"27  Why do you say, O Jacob,
and speak, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the Lord,
and my right is disregarded by my God"?

 I simply love the ESV translation here! My first thought was "who would have the guts to say that to God!?!? My second thought was "I've felt that way, and if I've felt that way then God has known I have felt that way, so in a sense, I said these things to God. On at least one occasion it was more like I screamed these things at God. "My right is disregarded by my God". What a horrid and amazing statement. It is like one of those scenes in a movie where some poor unknowing simpleton innocently utters some terrifying insult in the presence of some great and powerful ruler and everyone in the room gasps in shock. Who would say such a thing?

As I read this I was expecting a Job moment. I was expecting a royal chewout from God. One of those "I made you, I made everything, I run everything, how dare you question me" type rants. I was expecting a divine explosion. Instead I read this:

"28  Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.29  He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.30  Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;31  but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint."

Oh, ok, so that's where that famous passage is. As usual, I had heard those words a hundred thousand times, but those angry accusing words that came right before them... never. I guess you couldn't fit all those verses on Tim Tebow's face anyway. But these two together are so important to me now.  God doesn't always just scream "How dare you! Don't you know who I am?!?" at us, even though that would be just. Sometimes he communicates the same thing, but in a kind way: "Come one, don't you know who I am? Don't you see what is being held out to you? You think I don't see you? You think I deny you your rights? Wake up! I'm the one waiting for you to stop ignoring me! Here's a look at what you're missing out on by being an idiot." There's always a catch. This isn't God's promise to strengthen me so I can get what I want. It is for those who "wait upon the Lord". I'm not even sure what that means. All my study tools are buried in a storage unit somewhere and I miss them a lot. I did find an online lexicon though:

1) to wait, look for, hope, expect

    a) (Qal) waiting (participle)

    b) (Piel)

         1) to wait or look eagerly for

         2) to lie in wait for

         3) to wait for, linger for

New day, same basic application. No qualifying my answer, no excuses, no explanations, just a simple yes or a no. Do those words describe my relationship with God today? This is the door that must be worn down in my heart. Until I can yell yes from my heart with no hesitation I will be less than what he is calling me to be.