Waiting on God

If you were to ask me to describe my prayer life in one word right now, that word would be "waiting." Not only do I find myself in the waiting room in numerous matters in my own household but also in significant concerns among friends and family: waiting for job news, waiting for medical answers, waiting for the cancer to go into remission, waiting for a move, waiting for a baby, waiting for the Easter Bunny. (That last one was just to see if you were awake, although it is pretty significant to my little nephews.)

Today my heart finds company with the anonymous psalmist who penned Psalm 130:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

The South African missionary statesman Andrew Murray also mentors me in the waiting as I read his devotional classic, Waiting on God. including this prayer:

Blessed Father! We humbly beseech Thee, Let none that wait on Thee be ashamed; no, not one. Some are weary, and the time of waiting appears long. And some are feeble, and scarcely know how to wait. And some are so entangled in the effort of their prayers and their work, they think that they can find no time to wait continually. Father, teach us all how to wait. Teach us to think of each other, and pray for each other. Teach us to think of Thee, the God of all waiting ones. Father! Let none that wait on Thee be ashamed. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

Waiting is a good and right place to be, I suppose, in this week before Easter. My waiting can become waiting with Jesus (in the gospels) for His betrayal and crucifixion, waiting with the women and John at the foot of the cross, waiting with Mary at the tomb to know where they have laid her Lord. We who wait are in good company.

Thanks be to God, we wait in hope: in hope of the knowledge of the resurrection, in hope that His Word does not fall to the ground without accomplishing its purpose, in hope that "with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities."

Love and redemption are sure, so let us wait well and not lose heart.

How are you doing? Are you also in a waiting mode? If you'd like to share, what one word best describes your prayer life or walk with God right now?





Tuesday evening update: Ironically, after I posted this a severe storm system rolled through our area. It produced multiple tornadoes and large hail. Ebony and I spent most of the afternoon waiting out the storms in our safest room with cell phone, foam mattress pads, a hard hat, and of course his blanket. We are all fine here, but I wanted to add a note in case any readers heard of the storms on the news and were concerned for us. Other cities in the area sustained considerable damage, so first responders and relief agencies are concentrating efforts to help those who have lost power, property, or even homes in those parts of the area. Not a few people lost every material possession, but human lives seem to have been spared to a remarkable degree. The kind of storm that can toss big-rig trailers around like Hot Wheels cars has a way of bringing home how small and weak even the strongest of us is.