Some Bible verses make me uncomfortable. Let me share one with you. It is in Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 31. Here's the way it reads in the King James Version. "Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength."

I guess what makes me uncomfortable is that I'm not a very good waiter. I hate standing in lines. In fact, I despise having to stand in long lines and wait! Driving I-4 on a Thursday morning is deep unhappiness for me. I hate going four miles an hour waiting for somebody to do something up ahead so I can move on at a normal pace. I want to be in control of my life. I don't like to wait. And yet, the Bible says, "those who wait on the Lord will be stronger than those who don't." The text makes me uncomfortable.

But, I have tried to be a good "waiter." I have tried to learn to be patient and sit back and let God do things in His time, in His way. But in the process I've discovered something really interesting.

I have a good Baptist friend who is a deep Bible student. One day I shared my frustration about the text in Isaiah with him and said, "What does it really mean? Do we really have to wait that much." And he said, "I don't know. Let me go look at that." So we dusted off the commentaries, got out the Hebrew texts, and discovered the most wonderful bit of news! At least it was wonderful to me when I heard it from him, and I think you will find it wonderful also. That text could say, in fact I think should say, "They that wind upon the Lord will renew their strength." Instead of "wait," that word could actually be translated "wind." It is an artisan word, the same word that was used in Isaiah's time for the process of making rope.

Imagine that in my hand I have one thread of sisal. It's just a little thread, and is not going to make much of a rope. You can hardly see it at all. It's just a little, tiny dangling piece of sisal. I can take it and very easily break it into two. It's just not strong at all.

However, if I take a whole bunch of these pieces and wind them together, look what I can end up with! I can "wind" a real genuine heavy-duty rope. In fact, recently I was in Perth, Australia and saw a United State Navy aircraft carrier tied to the dock with a rope made out of sisal. Oh yes, it was a whole lot bigger than this. It was about six inches in diameter. You see, if you take one strand and wind it on another, it gets stronger than it is all alone.

See what the text means? If you try and do everything alone, you're going to be weak, and you may be broken in half as weak and useless. If, however, you wind upon God, you're going to be stronger than you can ever be alone.

Another friend, one who is a physician, listened to me talk about winding rope and then asked, "All right, Dick, so how do you wind on God?" We were standing in his kitchen in North Conway, New Hampshire, late on a breezy afternoon. We thought about the question for a moment and then Dr. Jay noticed what was happening outside. "Look outside here," he called.

Just outside the window there was a piece of wire hanging from the roof. Next to it a string was hanging, waving in the breeze. As we watched, the wind blew the string closer, closer to the wire. The closer the string was to that wire, the more the two seemed attracted to each other. Then, all of a sudden, the wind began to wrap the string around the wire.

Do you know how to wind on God? The string and the wire gave me the best answer I've ever seen. Get as close to God as you can. The devil will blow on you all of the ugly winds of trauma and stress and trial and frustration and temptation he can muster. But, the closer you are to God, the more the devil's blowing will wind you tightly upon God Himself. How strong are you then? There is nothing stronger in the universe.

Back to that text, Isaiah, chapter 40, verse 39, "They that wind upon God will be stronger than those who try to do it alone."

That's good news. Stand close. Let the devil do whatever he wants. Wind tight. Live life as God lives it—in His strength!

—Dick Duerksen