waiting, serving, and praying

I originally posted this in October of 2008, but recently this verse keeps coming back to me. So, I thought I would re-post it for what ever reason.

"They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

The above verse is attached to the bottom of every email that my friend, Jenn sends out, replies to, or forwards on. I know other people who do the same thing, one attaches Jeremiah 29:11, another uses Colossians 3:23. A few days ago I received an email from her explaining that her grandmother had passed away and what a strong Christian woman she had been and now she was "reaping her rewards for her faithful service to the Lord," those where Jenn's words regarding her grandmother.
As I read the bottom of her email and came to the verse I started to think about the words "wait upon" and their meaning. It was like someone hit me over the head, that verse doesn't mean we are to sit around watching the clock go tick-tock and wait on the the Lord to renew our strength. No, the author didn't use the word "WAIT" alone, he used the words "WAIT UPON." I might be a little slower than others but, when the two words are used together they take on a verb meaning, "to perform the duties of an attendant or servant." Do you know how many times I have read that verse and never put it together? More than I would like to admit.
It is only then, when we "SERVE OR ATTEND TO THE LORD" that he will "RENEW OUR STRENGTH." For those of you who have ever worked as a Server or hosted an event, you try to do everything that your guest ask of you, without asking any questions in return,in exchange for a tip or reward for a job well done. What if we took on that same attitude when we serve the Lord? Can you imagine if we did everything He asked of us and never asked any questions in return? How would He reward us then? He tells us, "they shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." There is no big surprise here. If we serve him he rewards us, this is not a hard concept to grasp folks.
Recently our pastor spoke about how when you are praying and serving God be prepared for an answer. He used the following example: If you are praying for a job, be ready to receive two offers, because God rewards and gives favor to the people who serve Him. Kevin and I looked at each other knowing that word was for us. You see, Kevin has been looking and praying for a different job for about a year, something with better benefits, more responsibility, more flexibility, and more money. Two weeks later Kevin received two different job offers. Both offers had more responsibility, more flexibility, better benefits, and more money; everything we had prayed for, however, one would disrupt our current lifestyle and be a huge adjustment, the other would not disrupt our life at all. So, this week he started his new job with very little disruption. Usually I would be freaking out a little bit, but not this time. This time, there is complete peace in our house. He is excited about the new position and we know that this was designed by God's hand. It is amazing to me to think that He made it that simple. God and His Word are not difficult to understand, we are the ones who muck it up.