Presence Devotion #14

The Art of Waiting

Matt Destry – Communications Pastor

Scripture

Psalm 130:5-6

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Insight

If there’s one thing that’s increasingly hard to do in the modern world, it is the art of waiting. Waiting requires patience, trust, and ultimately a relinquishment of control; to wait is to be submissive to factors outside of ourselves. Of course, not all waiting is hard (waiting for the microwave), and not all waiting is tedious (waiting for our train to reach it’s destination), but waiting is something that is lacking in our ‘now’ oriented world.

Our passage today connects waiting with hope. If there’s something that we’re waiting for, our hopes diminish over time. The longer I wait for the bus, the more I fear it’s never going to arrive. The longer I live with an illness, the more I become accustomed to it and the less I hold out for a cure. I may still wish for a resolution, but I cease to believe it. With every day that passes in waiting, hope dies.

With God it is different. We place our hope in things that we do not see. We hope and believe in his word. The eternal, ever-living, all-powerful promise of God that secures for us a new day and a bright hope for tomorrow. Our circumstances may not change, but neither does the certainly of God’s word, which will outlast all created things.

So, we wait for the Lord, and hope in his word. Like an ancient watchman, straining his eyes to see the break of day, signalling relief from danger and rest for weary bones, we too hope in a new day, not because of ‘wishful thinking’ but because of the certainty of God’s promise.

Reflective Questions

What are you waiting for?
Why do you find it hard to ‘wait on God’?
What does this passage show you about hope?