There are times in our lives when waiting becomes very difficult. We pray, we believe, we ask the Lord for an answer, and when days become weeks or weeks become months, a question can quietly enter our hearts: Lord, have You heard me? Perhaps you have been praying for someone you love. Perhaps you are waiting for healing, provision, a door to open, or simply for the Lord to show you what to do next. You believe God is faithful, but you cannot yet see what He is doing.
There is a beautiful verse in Isaiah that I have been thinking about:
“Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you.”
Isaiah 30:18
Usually, we speak about us waiting for God, but here Isaiah gives us another picture. The Lord waits so that He may be gracious to us. This does not mean that God has forgotten us or that He is slow to care. It reminds us that His timing is not always our timing. We see only the situation in front of us, while He sees the whole road. What feels like silence to us does not mean that God is absent, and what feels like delay does not mean that He has stopped working.
Here in Israel, we understand something about waiting. For generations, the Jewish people prayed toward Jerusalem. Year after year, families finished the Passover Seder (Passover Meal) with the words, “Next year in Jerusalem.” There were centuries when the promises of God must have seemed very far away, yet God had not forgotten. Today, I can stand here in Jerusalem and read the words of Isaiah:
“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you.”
Isaiah 30:19
These are extraordinary words to read in Jerusalem today. The Jewish people are once again living in this city. Hebrew is spoken in the streets, and children are growing up in the land of their fathers. When I see these things, I am reminded again that time does not cancel the promises of God. Generations may pass, circumstances may change, and from our human perspective it may sometimes seem impossible, but God does not forget what He has spoken. And if He has remained faithful to His promises through generations, we can trust Him with the things we are carrying today.
Perhaps you are entering this Shabbat with an unanswered prayer. I cannot tell you when the answer will come, and I cannot tell you exactly how God will answer. Isaiah does not promise that we will always understand the waiting. But it tells us something much more important about the character of the One to whom we pray: He hears. He is gracious. He has mercy. And He has not forgotten you. Sometimes this is what our hearts need more than an explanation. We need to remember who God is.
A few verses later, Isaiah gives us another wonderful promise:
“Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it.’”
Isaiah 30:21
Many times, we want God to show us the whole road. We want to know how the situation will end, what will happen next, and where He is taking us. But often the Lord does not show us everything at once. He gives us enough light for the next step. A quiet conviction, a direction in our heart, a correction when we begin moving to the right or to the left: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
And reading these words here in Jerusalem, I cannot help but think about Yeshua. Centuries after Isaiah wrote about the voice saying, “This is the way,” Yeshua walked this land and declared,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
John 14:6
This changes how we understand the road ahead. Our confidence is not found in knowing everything that will happen tomorrow. Our confidence is in knowing the One we are following. When we know Him, we can take the next step even when we cannot see the entire road.
Maybe this is what the Lord wants to remind you of this Shabbat. You may still be waiting. You may still have questions, and the situation you have prayed about may not have changed yet. But God has not disappeared from your story. He hears your cry, His grace has not run out, His promises have not changed, and when you do not know which way to go, He is still able to say, “This is the way. Walk in it.”
So as Shabbat begins here in Israel, my prayer is that the Lord will give rest to your heart while you wait. May He quiet the fear that tells you nothing is happening and renew your confidence in His faithfulness. May you hear His voice clearly in the places where you need direction, and may He give you the courage not to demand the whole road ahead, but simply to take the next step with Him. The God you are waiting for is faithful, and He has not forgotten you.
Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem!
Pastor Israel Pochtar
