While We Wait...

The Lord is good to hose who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord. 

Lamentations 3:25-26

When I reflect on the last couple of months, one theme I see is this: waiting. Waiting for a call. Waiting for an opportunity. Waiting for healing. Waiting for an answer. Waiting for the right timing. Waiting for God to provide. 

Waiting is HARD. It not only calls upon us to have patience, but also tremendous trust. 

In this time of waiting, the Lord is teaching my heart some valuable lessons. He's told me that while I wait...

I can trust in His word

While we strive for patience, it is easy to lose sight of God's promises and forget who He is. Opening up my bible has brought me great hope in these waiting times. Through the psalms I see words which reflect the difficulty of waiting, and reminders of the Lord's promises. In the Old Testament I reflect on times that God has provided for his children. In the New Testament I am given hopeful words to meditate on. 

I am still confident of this: 

I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

 Wait for the Lord: 

Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. 

-Psalm 27:13-14

I can reflect on my story

When in doubt that God will provide, I can look back at my story and see his love written all over my life. I think back on times that felt hopeless and remember that the Lord made a way and provided for me, even if it wasn't the way that I expected. As I reflect on his faithfulness, it reminds me that I can trust Him, even in the dark. 

But I will sing of your strength;

I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. 

For you have been to me a fortress 

and a refuge in the day of my distress.

O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,

for you, O God, are my fortress,

The God who shows me steadfast love. 

-Psalm 59:16-17

I can know that He is with me and goes before me 

One easy trap to fall into when waiting is to put our hope in 'everything is going to be okay'. As scary as it sounds, we really don't know that. We don't know that diseases will heal, or our dreams won't die, or that our greatest fears won't be realized. What we do know, though, is that God promises to be with us always, and to go before us and be light and love in any darkness.

Even though I walk through the valley

of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me.

-Psalm 23:4a

While waiting, I can't hold onto and hope in 'everything will be okay', but I can hold onto the fact that God is with me and goes before me, and that makes everything okay. 

linking up with:

Thank Goodness It's Monday

Teaching What is Good

Coffee for Your Heart

Paula's No Rules Weekend Blog Party