Walking, We Wait

The passage jumped out at me this morning:

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of Your laws, we wait for You;
Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you . . . . (Isaiah 26:8-9)

Walking . . . we wait. How is this? The two seem at odds.

Yet when I pause and let the words settle a bit, I picture a child, toddling alongside his parent. He stays close by, knowing that daddy is strong and that his way is best, safe, secure. He walks with his father, but he waits, letting daddy lead the way.

In the same way, our Father has shown us the way. His Son charted the course that we may follow, that we may walk. And while walking -- while moving forward with confidence -- we wait. We anticipate so much. We anticipate His will for our lives, we anticipate answered prayer, and most of all we anticipate His glorious return. We wait.

How do we know if we're walking and waiting the way the Lord would have us walk and wait? It's in the next line: Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. That's it. That's the walk. Every step . . . His name is our desire. Every word spoken . . . His name is our desire. Every thought, every reaction, every human interaction . . . His name is our desire.

Unfortunately, we don't always live like this. Yet there is such encouragement in the next phrase: "My soul yearns for You in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for You . . . ." Whether or not we know it or acknowledge it, we are yearning for Him. We wake up yearning, we go to sleep yearning.

Many times that yearning is misunderstood. We ache for Him, yet fill it with something else. We long to be with Him, yet we seek communion elsewhere. We long for beauty, for comfort, for peace with what seems like an unquenchable desire. Don't you see it? We. Want. Him.

And He wants us.

So we ask for His help and treasure His ready-and-waiting abundant grace. We pray with Isaiah that these words will be true of us. That we will be people who walk in His ways while waiting eagerly for Him. That we will satisfy the yearning of each evening and the longing of each morning with His name and with His name alone. Walking, we wait. It's the desire of our hearts.