Waiting on the Lord Is Not a Waste by Mark Vroegop for Servants of Grace
THE SPACE BETWEEN
Waiting for anything feels like a complete waste of time. Waiting for God to move or answer seems even worse. Lamentations 3:25–27 shows us the value of living in the space between suffering and restoration. Lament serves us well as we mourn and wait.
The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man that he bear
the yoke in his youth.
What you cannot see in your English translation is that verses 25–27 all begin with the Hebrew word “good.”1 It could read:
Good is the Lord to those who wait for him,
Good it is that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord,
Good it is for a young man to bear the yoke in his youth.
So there is obviously something good here. What is it? To wait on the Lord means to place your hope in him—to trust that God is the one who can deliver you. Your entire confidence rests on him. We wait upon the Lord because he is God and we are not.
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WHY IS IT SO HARD?
Why is waiting so difficult? Because it feels as if we’re not doing anything. And that’s the point. You’re not doing anything, but God is. However, waiting is one of the greatest applications of the Christian faith. You are putting your trust in God, placing your hope in him, and expressing confidence that he is in control. Waiting puts us in an uncomfortable place where we’re out of control of our lives. This is “active patience”? That season is when God will shape and define us the most.
However, I’m not saying waiting is easy. The uncertainty of what may or may not happen can be haunting. It can occupy too much space in our thinking. I’ve had it affect my sleep and assault my mind with the first thoughts of the day. Waiting can be hard because of the fear of what might happen. Our inability to do anything but wait is a powerless feeling. We want to know the answer. We want to know what’s going on. We want to know, “What’s the point of this? Why is this happening? Why is my life not like I want?”
