Today’s blog is about waiting—a perfect topic for Easter week. Before Jesus came, people were waiting for the Messiah. When He arrived, Jesus’ disciples waited for Him to make His move to claim the throne of Israel. Since Jesus’ resurrection, believers have been waiting for His return. Today, people all over the world are waiting for something—candy, church services, gathering with family, Sunday’s feast, for things to get back to normal, or the answer to a prayer they’re aching will come to pass.
I remember my last visit to Urgent Care when the guy next to me kept jiggling his leg, looking at the clock, sighing dramatically, pacing, and checking his phone. All the while he muttered under his breath, making the waiting room tense for himself and everyone around him. Not surprisingly, he didn’t get in any quicker.
I know God’s not like us, but if I were Him, I’d make people like that wait even longer, and move the quietly trusting ones to the front of the line. Though they might be just as anxious about their situation as the impatient ones, their calm demeanor makes them and everyone else feel better in the waiting.
That same day my cashier at the grocery store told me a man put up a big stink about having to wait his turn while those in front of him were helped. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same guy. “Somehow,” she smirked, “it took a little longer to help him than it might have otherwise.” He caused his own demise with his bad attitude. So often we do the same thing.
None of us like to wait. You may be in an agony of uncertainty in your present situation, or as you pray for someone dear to you. Waiting feels like wasted time—days tick by with no answers and you feel hope slipping through your fingers. It all seems so impossible. And yet we hope…
The prophet Jeremiah felt the same way. The enemy had sacked their land and those who weren’t killed were taken as slaves. Everything looked hopeless. He begins the book of Lamentations with these words:
1 How deserted lies the city,
once so full of people!
How like a widow is she,
who once was great among the nations!
She who was queen among the provinces
has now become a slave.
2 Bitterly she weeps at night,
tears are on her cheeks.
Among all her lovers
there is no one to comfort her.
All her friends have betrayed her;
they have become her enemies.
3 After affliction and harsh labor,
Judah has gone into exile.
Jeremiah 1:1-3
This is how Jesus’ disciples felt after His crucifixion. Thursday night He was arrested and He didn’t resist, though they knew He had the power to get away. Friday He went to trial, and stayed silent as all those who had praised Him on Palm Sunday now shouted, “Crucify Him!” Then He died. Saturday was eerily silent, and full of despair and fear. The disciples wondered if it would be their turn next. I wonder in those dark hours, as they huddled together, if the disciples turned to chapter three of Lamentations hoping for encouragement:
21 This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the soul who seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should hope and wait quietly
For the salvation of the Lord.
27 It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
28 Let him sit alone in silence,
for the Lord has laid it on him.
29 Let him bury his face in the dust—
there may yet be hope.
Lam. 3:21-26, emphasis mine
Though I cannot pretend to know what you are going through, I do know this: God has not changed. The God who brought the Israelites back to their homeland from captivity is the same One who raised Jesus from the dead and brought hope to His desperate followers. He sees you now and hears your cries for help. And He has a plan.
These five points from Jeremiah help me cling to hope in times of waiting and lament. Pause, if you will, after each point to read the correlating verse, and then pray with your situation in mind.
- Remind yourself that the Lord is good (v. 25)
- Wait for your only Savior (v. 26)
- Learn this early in life, or start now (v. 27)
- Spend time alone to grieve, repent, and release your need to Him (v. 28)
- Be humble and recognize He is God (v. 29)
This Sunday, on the happiest day of the Christian calendar, I pray you will rejoice—even if you still have unanswered prayers. Praise Him while you wait and trust Him to raise you up as well.
Happy Easter!
“Waiting Here for You” Christy Nockels