Wait, hope?

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they 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 40:29-31 ESV)

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

Wait = qavah.

Outline of Biblical Usage:

1) to wait, look for, hope, expect

1) to wait or look eagerly for

2) to lie in wait for

3) to wait for, linger for

2) to collect, bind together

The word wait was synonymous with hope in some versions. In English they are completely different words. But Waiting in the Hebrew connoted expectation. Abraham waited on the Lord as he travelled to the place of sacrifice/worship, because he didn't know where that place was when he started on his journey! 

He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. (Genesis 22:2-4 ESV)

He expected God to show him the place. He collected and bound together the the stones and fire wood, and moved in the direction God showed him. As he took his first steps & continued on his journey, directions to the destination were made clearer and clearer, until he looked up and saw it for himself. 

What are we expecting? Hope is birthed in the word of the Lord. What steps can we take to move in the direction he has called us to- knowing that clarity and vision will follow? As we wait on Him, our strength is renewed because we stop looking at what we carry, at the stones in our hands, and look instead into the distance, into the surety of his provision.