Though Your Promise Tarries, Wait For It

This is a word I believe the Lord has for a lot of people in this season of life. There are many people waiting for promises to be fulfilled, waiting on promises only He can deliver. We can't do it of our strength, only He can.  

Yet, it seems like He's taking His time bringing about the promise. Why the wait? I believe Habakkuk can teach us why we might be in a season of waiting, why the promise is delayed.

2 Then the Lord answered me and said:

“Write the vision

And make it plain on tablets,

That he may run who reads it.

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;

But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.

Though it tarries, wait for it;

Because it will surely come,

It will not tarry.

4 “Behold the proud,

His soul is not upright in him;

But the just shall live by his faith."

Habakkuk 2:2-4 (NKJV)

A few things that are really interesting about this passage that I want to highlight. First, the vision that Habakkuk received from the Lord is for an appointed time. Everything that the Lord promises to us is for an appointed time. It might be that the promise He gives you is near-term, or maybe it's a long-term promise that is developed through years of prayer and waiting on the Lord. Whatever the case is, all things have a season under the sun. Your promise will not arrive until the appointed time is here, so pray for your appointed time to come!

Now I want to take a look at the words tarries and tarry in verse 3. In some translations the same word is used: tarry. The Amplified Bible uses the word delay in both instances, and the NIV says linger and then delay. Just to give you an example of the different translations.

The first word tarries is the Hebrew word mahah, and it means to linger, tarry, wait, delay, hesitate. The second tarry is an entirely different word, 'âchar, and it means to delay, defer, remain behind, to loiter, procrastinate, be late.  

It's interesting that our Lord made sure to differentiate between these two words. Although the vision is taking its time and is delayed, it is not late. We have a tendency to believe that God is late in bringing about our promises, but the truth is that God is right on time. It's just on His time, not our time.

The Lord Himself was the one who spoke these words to Habakkuk, telling him that although the vision is taking time to come to pass, He the Lord is not procrastinating in bringing it about.

The same is true for your life today. If God has promised something to you: a specific future, a baby, a home, a family, a spouse, a job, financial blessings, health and healing; He is not late in answering. Most often the delay is to teach us something.

Let's take a look at the word wait. The Lord told Habakkuk, "Though it tarries, wait for it.." The word wait is the Hebrew verb chakah, which means to adhere to; hence, to await:--long, tarry, wait. But its akin to the Hebrew verb chaqah through the idea of piercing. Chaqah means to cut, carve, cut in--carved work, to engrave.

As I was studying these two words side by side, the Holy Spirit suddenly spoke to me regarding the relationship between waiting and a carved work. "It is in the waiting that the Lord is carving you into a fine work. He painstakingly pierces into our flesh, removing debris and dirt that can't be a part of the final masterpiece. It's in the wait that you are perfected into one of His good works, a piece of art. A masterpiece."

The Lord told Habakkuk to wait, and the word He used indicated that the waiting would hurt, it would pierce Habakkuk. Because learning patience, the process of growing in longsuffering, hurts. We tend to be impatient and undisciplined when it comes to waiting on the Lord. But our faithful Lord is after faithful servants. And part of faithfulness is growing in the fruits of the Spirit, and those fruits are born through intense periods of longsuffering.   

It is in the wait that the Lord pierces into our hearts of flesh and removes the parts of us that are impatient with Him to answer our prayer. He's turning us into a carved work of art, a beautiful work that will receive the gifts He has to give. Sometimes it takes time for us to turn into that beautiful work.

I have good news though, the length of the wait depends on you. If you are compliant and willing to lean into the Lord as He engraves you, the process can be sped up. The more we humbly submit to Him and His will, His timing, and His plan, the faster His hands can carve.

The waiting hurts, because our flesh is being shaped into something beautiful.

Lastly, I want to point out the language the Lord uses. He says, "Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come." The Lord gave Habakkuk a vision and He said wait for it, because it WILL SURELY come. Not maybe it will arrive. He didn't say it will possibly happen. No, the Lord said will surely.  

If the Lord gave you a vision for your future, and you choose to wait on Him while it tarries, the Lord promises that it will surely be delivered. You don't have to strive for it, or work for it, or try to earn it. All you have to do is wait on the Lord to deliver it.  

I think this passage gives us such hope for the future. There are visions and dreams that every believer has been given by God, and we can be assured that He will bring those to pass. I know it hurts to wait. Just as a chisel pierces the rock to carve it into something magnificent, so too does waiting pierce our hearts of stone and turn it into flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) 

The wait shows us what is in our hearts; shows us how impatient and rebellious we really are. The Lord is careful to remove these things from us before He gives us the vision, gives us our dream. He desires a true masterpiece to steward His good gifts.  

Wonderful believer reading this, you are a true masterpiece, and worth every minute of the Lord's time. Wait on Him, He will surely come.

Prayer In The Wait

Lord Jesus, I am waiting on a promise from You.

I heard from You regarding (name your dream/vision/promise from the Lord)

I know that even though the promise tarries, 

it will surely come.

Give me patience in the wait,

Give me strength to hold on,

Keep my gaze fixed on You.

Bring the appointed time about quickly.

If there is anything keeping the promise from coming, remove it in Jesus name!

I pray the blood of Jesus over my life,

Over the dream you gave me,

Over this time as I wait.  

Make my waiting time a productive time,

And make my hands ready to receive all that 

You have for me.

I give You my promise, and trust that 

when the time is right,

You, the Lord, will make it happen.

In Jesus name.

Amen