Isaiah 8:17
17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
Waiting upon the Lord is a determination of the heart. Our prophet says "I will." He has engaged his will, made up his mind, and decided that he will wait upon the Lord. So it is with us, today is the day to decide that you will wait upon the LORD. If you don't make up your mind now, in the day of adversity you will be tempted and drawn away to go and serve other gods. In the verses following this verse, the people of Israel are warned against going to soothsayers and wizards in the day of adversity. They wouldn't wait on the Lord, they ran for what they thought was a quick solution. Perhaps their thought was "God has hidden himself from us, so let us find our answers elsewhere." Like King Saul, God hid his face from him and he ran to the witch of Endor and lost his life for it, so did many people of the nation of Israel. You better make up your mind that you will wait on him in the days of adversity, in the days of prosperity, in the days of quietness, and in days of action, make up your mind today, "I will wait upon the LORD."
Have you ever felt as if God was hiding himself from you? In our verses their were many things about the soon-coming messiah that they still did not know, they didn't know the time of his coming, or the manner of his coming, they were unclear about what type of man he would be, yet they knew he was coming. He was hidden from them but not unknown to them. Some promises revealed him although he had not been fully revealed as of yet. So it is today, that there are many things we don't know about our Lord, "we see through a glass darkly." Some aspects of his second coming seem hidden to us. Yet, although some aspects of him are hidden, and we are yet to see his face, we still have promises that reveal him to us until we see him face to face.
Even in some seasons of life, he seems to be hidden from us. We wonder where is his familiar touch, sweet voice, or his hand of power amid our weakness. Like Job we search high and low but can't seem to find him, it is as if he has hidden his face from us in the affairs of our life. What do we do then? We look for him. Seek Him and he will be found. That is a promise. If you will make up your mind that you are waiting on him and him alone, and that you will look for him even when he seems to hide his face from you, before long you will find him. Like the Shulamite "sought him and found him not" yet she continued her search and "It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go." How should we pass our days of waiting for the return of our Savior? Looking for him. Anticipating his return, looking toward the eastern sky each rising sun, and thinking "Today could be the day." Looking for him in every circumstance of life, when hurt comes, "Lord is this your hand in my life?" When blessings come, "Lord is this your hand in my life," and we cannot forget to look for him in the one place you are sure to find him, His word. Search while you wait, ere long he will no longer be hidden.
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