Qavah

"Even youths grow weary, and young men stumble and fall;

but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not faint."

- Isaiah 40:31, NIV

This verse may or may not be familiar to you. If you grew up in a Christian school with a basketball team, it probably is, as it most likely made its way to the back of a t-shirt at one point or another.

Also, if it is familiar to you, you probably know that the word HOPE is replaced with the word WAIT in the NAS translation, i.e., "those who wait for the Lord." How interesting. "Hope" and "wait" are interchangeable...

This hope/wait word is the Hebrew word QAVAH, and I must say - it is my new favorite Hebrew word. It should be noted, however, that I don't know many others besides Shalom and Mazel Tov.

• qavah: to hope, to wait for, to look eagerly, to expect with intensity

Andy Stanley describes it this way -

Qavah is the word used to describe a thief or a robber who is hiding on the side of the road waiting for someone to pass by. It is waiting, but it is eager, leaning forward, anticipatory waiting: "Something's about to happen, and I'm going to be ready. Somebody's about to come, and I am waiting eagerly."

Other commentators compare qavah to children on Christmas morning who are waiting on Mom and Dad to wake up so they can open presents. The children run around, peer out the window, look up the stairs, jump at the slightest noise, knock on the bedroom door, all in eager anticipation of the events to come.

I LOVE these two word pictures... a robber on the side of a road and a child on Christmas morning. This is not passive waiting. This is not leaning back, doing nothing, being ho hum about what may or may not come next. No! This is active! Eager! Anticipatory! Crouched forward, ready to pounce! Full of life!

This is the posture of hope, the posture of qavah. We can't help but notice that hope is intrinsically tied with waiting, and waiting with hope. The hope of the Lord comes from the fact that there is more to this life than we can see, and we are called to patiently wait for the unfathomable things that God has planned for us in the future. We wait patiently for what's ahead because we have hope, and we hope for what's ahead as we wait.

As Isaiah writes, even youths [read: everyone] get weary and fall. You and I both know that this is life - it's hard, it's tiring, it's confusing, it's sad, it's exhausting. But! As we lean forward in hope and wait on the Lord, qavah-ing, our strength will be renewed.

So be encouraged in your weariness, and have hope. Hope that a rescuer is on the way. Hope that something new is just around the bend. Hope that the end is in sight. Hope that good things are coming. Lean into that hope. Get ready. Wait actively.

Because Mom and Dad will be up soon, and there's a bike with a bow on it in the garage.