Devotional | Shannon Miller.

I came to music practice stressed and unfocused this past Sunday. The Lord filled the room with His presence, and with a few words from Him I was at peace again. I had read my Bible for a few minutes and sang worship songs the previous day, but like passing a loved one in a hallway, I hadn’t truly met with Him until that moment. As Jill Briscoe’s words in the paragraphs below teach, it is precisely when I am too busy and too exhausted, that I should wait upon Him before I take another stressed out step.

“But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31, BSB

When I begin to wait on the Lord, the difference will be felt deep down within me. He will do a new thing inside, while the old things outside remain the same. There will be a difference! But I shall need to learn the discipline of dropping things from my busy schedule. I will not get all accomplished in a day. Some important tasks will not get done, because the all-important must.

But I will meet with you, my God! You and I shall talk together. Then you will tell me not to dwell upon the past—to forget the former things. You will make a way in the desert and pour streams into the wasteland. You will give my thirsty soul a drink! As I learn to listen to the heartbeat of your soul, you will help me to rejoice. We will talk about our children, and I shall draw courage from your promises to Israel. I will hear you say, “I will pour out my Spirit and my blessings on your children” (Isaiah 44:3).

Yes, there will be a difference when I wait—not a change of circumstance without, but certainly a change of attitude within. Dropping the lesser to pick up the greater must become a daily habit, a question of necessity, not choice. A life like the one awaiting us in heaven. If I will but wait upon the Lord, then other things will have to wait. My schedule will not be my master, but my slave. Time is for choosing to take time—to make time—for eternal things.