Rev. Rebecca Trefz currently serves as the executive director of ministries and the interim district superintendent for the Southwest Director for the Dakotas Conference. On July 1, 2020, she will begin an appointment as the Southeast District Superintendent.

Photo illustration by Deleece Cook on Unsplash.

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”? 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. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those 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. Isaiah 40:27-31NRSV

“I can’t wait to worship together again.” “I can’t wait to not have to stare at a computer screen for every gathering.” “I can’t wait to hug my parents or go out on a real date with my husband again.” “I can’t wait for school to NOT be in my house.”

I don’t know about you, but these are phrases I’ve been hearing a lot lately. Most of these comments come with a sense of impatience or exhaustion because, well, waiting is hard.  And as the anxiety and uncertainty of what the future is going to look like sets in, the waiting can be stressful and even scary.

So when I read the words of Isaiah—words written to people in exile who were feeling lost or scared and certainly unsure about what the future would hold—it’s hard for me to imagine how WAITING could be renewing and energizing!

This is when I need to remember what Isaiah meant when he said, “wait.” The Hebrew word used for “wait” is Qavah.  It doesn’t just mean sit around passively and anxiously.  It means to “LOOK for EXPECTANTLY” or “to HOPE for.”

I don’t know what that was like for the Israelites to hear this. But as resurrection people—people who know that God can and does work through even the darkest most hopeless situations to bring about good—we can have a faith and a defining story that helps us do this—especially when we look in the right direction.

We look back. We look back to see where God has worked in our lives, where God has redeemed even some of our darkest moments and used them for good and where God has rekindled our faith when it felt like it had died. We do this because, when our faith feels weary and when it doesn’t feel like we have the strength to be church leaders, we need those words—“Have you not known? Have you not heard?”—to remind us to remember what we DO know and what we HAVE heard about the truth of God’s faithfulness. 

We look around. I see all the things our pastors and churches are doing to share light and hope in their communities and it renews my spirit. Even as I know our mental and emotional strength may be weary, I believe that the strength of our faith and belief in the mission of the church is being renewed through all of this.  I believe that our resolve to share the Good News of Resurrection Hope is soaring on wing like eagles.

We look up. We look up so that we remember that God is God so we don’t have to be. We look up and wait expectantly to see what GOD will do—not because we’ve crafted the perfect online worship or made the 1000^th telephone call or been on 30 hours of video calls—but because God is enough, even when we feel like we’re not. And we look up so that we remember that, even when it’s hard, it’s good to have a God whose understanding is far beyond ours and who never tires of this world he created. It is in that surrender, that trust, that hope, that our strength is renewed and our commitment to following a Lord and Savior who is always at work for good—even in the wait.