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Praise in the Waiting

By: Hunter Jones
Patience is not my strong suit.

And no, I don’t mean the patience required for waiting in grocery store lines, or at traffic lights, or behind the person who forgot all their paperwork at the DMV. I mean the patient endurance needed to weather seasons of crying out to the Lord, begging to be remembered by Him, begging Him to come and do what only He can do – and what you are so painstakingly aware that you cannot do on your own.

Proverbs 13:12 describes this sort of waiting perfectly. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”

If we are followers of Christ, we live daily in this tension of the not yet and the hope of what will be. We wait and hope for Jesus to finally return, longing for all injustice to be made right and every tear to be wiped away by the gentle hand of our God.

But many of us also find ourselves in other waiting seasons, wrapped in resounding “not yet” answers to our desperate prayers – with no guarantee of a yes.

The question is, what can we possibly do with our sick, weary hearts in the midst of these seasons of waiting?

Philippians 4:4 says “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.”

Rejoicing, praising, or giving any sort of thanks is about the last thing I want to do when I feel as though God is ignoring my prayers. Or worse, has said “no.” But Philippians 4:4 is a command to rejoice … always. And when my stubborn heart finally gets sick and tired of being sick and tired, I obey.

Because in the waiting, in the tension, in the hoping beyond hope, we need to look up. We need to remind our hearts of who our God is. And when we do, we don’t have to worship loudly, or dance, or even give thanks for these difficult seasons of waiting (though He may bring us to this place). We can simply rejoice with whatever we have–whether a single breath, or a full-hearted, joyous song. Jesus invites us to lift eyes and our waiting hearts to Him, and let Him pull us close.

Because in the waiting – even in the waiting on God Himself to move – He is with us, and He is good.

“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” Psalm 27:14

1 Comment


Curtis - June 2nd, 2021 at 10:14pm

Thx- needed that. ;)

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