Expectant hope from waiting on Him, that’s the 2022 image the Lord impressed on me during prayer right after midnight on New Year’s Eve. Let’s unpack the words He set before me—wait, His love raining down, unity, stand firm.

“I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what He will say to me.” —Habakkuk 2:1

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READING TIME: 5 MINUTES.

WATCHWORD GIVEN: January 1, 2022, 12:01 am through the third watch.

Wait. That particular word from the Lord (given in addition to three others) is still reverberating in my soul. He later gave me a clearly spiritual dream to underscore the word’s importance. Here’s how it rolled . . .

The quick backstory: For years, I’ve had—and continue to have—a New Year’s Eve midnight-rendezvous with the Lord. It’s become a time when He kindly reveals watchwords and images for the upcoming year and often leads me into some level of intercession.

The midnight hour appears throughout scripture. In Judaic terms, midnight is the convergence of two forces. One force—gevurah, meaning strength, linked to justice—gives way to another force—chesed, lovingkindness that is demonstrated in God’s rock-solid faithfulness, devotion, mercy, and grace, per His rightfully self-proclaimed character traits in Exodus 34:6-7.

God harmonizes gevurah and chesed. The wise psalm-writer Ethan the Ezrahite wrote in Psalm 89:14: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

And as God would have it: His 2022 watchword “wait” mirrors this midnight push-pull convergence.

WAIT . . . LONG FOR . . . HIM

Here’s the thing: Waiting flows both ways. God’s and ours.

Isaiah reveals that God is waiting with His graciousness, mercies, justice . . . and that we have a need (and a certain way) to wait on Him and spark His action. The red text below gives hints from the Hebrew.

Therefore, the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of JUSTICE;
blessed are all those who WAIT
[piercing through the wait with longing]
for him.
—Isaiah 30:18

GOD IS WAITING FOR YOU TO WAIT ON HIM. AND TO WAIT IN A WAY THAT MATURES YOUR SOUL.

Hang on to that—we’ll come back around to it in a sec.

So on that 2021-2022 New Year’s Eve, I had asked God, “But what about 2022?”

He said, “WAIT.”

The word stood clear before me . . . and then I saw an eagle—more specifically, it was the eagle’s wings that drew my attention. I sensed myself riding on them, but whoosh! I had wings like the eagle, rising upward, flying in loops, having fun.

Immediately following that, I sensed Him counseling me, depositing a scripture within my soul in a new—and exhilarating—way . . . a scripture you may very well be familiar with.

But they who wait
[faithfully, obediently, doggedly,
diligently, with expectant hope]
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 40:31

He impressed on me this view of what waiting is and what it does . . .

Waiting is totally resting in Him, soaking in His presence.

Waiting is surrendering to His timing, His kingship.

Waiting is faithfully staying in His Word, drenched by it.

Waiting is going the distance, not fainting, not impatiently.

Waiting is a strengthening process that renews, restores, refreshes, redirects the soul.

Waiting is a tool to help the soul soar higher, go farther.

Waiting is longingly waiting for Him . . . which moves His love even more.

Waiting is when His desires become yours—and shalom floods your soul, healing and answers arrive with joy.

These lyrics—from the song “Nothing Else” by Cody Carnes, Hank Bentley, and Jessie Early—capture the longing outcome of the waiting process.

And I love, love, love Rick Pino’s version . . . his Davidic-worshipful heart embodies the soul’s cry for more of our King.

I’m caught up in Your presence
I just want to sit here at Your feet
I’m caught up in this holy moment
I never want to leave
Oh, I’m not here for blessings
Jesus, You don’t owe me anything
More than anything that You can do
I just want You . . . Nothing else

YOUR STORY

We’ve all been shaken in one way or another—2020 and 2021 brought an avalanche of shifts. Many levels, many ways. But despite what you’re going through, 2022’s word shows the hope stirring within God, ready to be poured out on us and through us.

Maybe your personal world has been interrupted. The loss of something, anything—health, job/finances, relationships, loyalty, fidelity, faith, etc.—crashed into your life space and “normal” is fading in the rearview mirror.

You’re overwhelmed, no longer in control. No vision before you, no clue of anything around you. Your faith, foggy . . . you’re walking on jello, consumed with your situation. Your soul aches.

You feel like you’re in mourning. And you are—but not just for the specific loss you experienced. You’re mourning the loss of what you thought your life was going to be. What you had imagined, planned, desired, expected God (or others) to do.

And now: shock, pain/guilt, anger, depression (self-hate/anger turned inward) and loneliness, the stages of the mourning process have stepped in.

But with God, so has the rising-up stage when your soul is being refined, strengthened, refocused in His holy waiting room to walk in a new version of your life, faithfully held in His hands.

That’s why it’s critical in 2022 for you, me, and all believers to wait . . . to man the post He’s assigned us individually for service and follow His lead.

No leaning on our own understanding of how long “wait” is or should be. No taking things upon ourselves, even for a short bit, or doing something else to fill in the wait gap.

The Lord gave me a dream to underscore that. The gist of it is at the end of this post.

HIS LOVE RAINING DOWN

The Lord showed me the word LOVE, large and with a sense of it raining down . . .
 

casting out fear

demolishing the enemy’s lies

strengthening faith

soaking our souls with His Love

teaching, instructing, guiding us

MARCHING IN UNITY & STANDING FIRM

Two other words were put before me on New Year’s eve—and they both play into the “wait” watchword.
 

UNITY. An army of believers in Messiah working and marching globally as one, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder. In step, in faith, in love for Him and one another.
 

I prayed: Lord, the enemy is revving up. The battle is raging and darkness is growing, spreading out deep and wide to every sector, every nation.

What do we do, Lord?

I saw this . . .

STAND FIRM.

Then, Lord, give us your heart on the matter . . . your words coming ALIVE within our souls . . . emanating out to those around us . . . let us not be business as usual again.

The LORD . . . He is God.

No other. Ever.

There is nothing apart from God.

THE DREAM

The gist of it is this: In the dream, I’m “preparing food” for visitors (representing actual people I’ve been ministering the Gospel to). But the main course was missing, and I was waiting for someone (a person from my life representing heaven/God’s direction) to bring the item.

My visitors were fine with waiting. In time, I wasn’t. I couldn’t believe I was this unprepared. I mean having people over and not having the main course food even in your kitchen—let alone not cooked, ready to serve—was crazy.

So we waited some more . . . and when I offered the appetizer and salad that was ready, they pleasantly said they’d wait.
 

Well, I waited with them, chatted, but inside I was getting even more antsy. Where was my person with the main food so I could finish it and serve these guests? Turns out, the person finally returned—but without my entrée item.

Perfect. And so we waited and waited while the heavenly-messenger person left on the shopping mission—again.

You have to know this is coming: I couldn’t wait anymore and left my guests to see what the holdup was and to get the food item myself, if needed.
 

Problem: When I returned, the guests were gone, the kitchen/dining area cleaned up, everything put away. I was bewildered—both in the dream and afterward when I woke up.
 

After seeking the Lord, I realized the dream underscores the WAIT 2022 message.

TAKEAWAY: As long as I was waiting on the Lord, my guests (to whom I was to minister to) were happily willing to wait. But when I left my post—even for a short time to see why it was taking so long and if I could handle it myself or some other way—the guests left.

Obediently waiting at my post is critical to my place in God’s army, my relationship with Him. Probably like you, my soul longs to be part of His eternal work down here . . . and to finish well.

Lord, help our souls to hear, love, obey you the way your majesty deserves to be loved and honored.

Photo Credit: Lighthouse by Michael Krahn on Unsplash.com

Photo Credit: Eagle waiting by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash.com

Photo Credit: Heart-like Parachute by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.com

Photo Credit: Empty plate by Debby Hudson-Pomy on Unsplash.com