Waiting

I have just written a very forceful email to an organisation who have delayed dealing with a long-running issue, to encourage them to get a grip on the situation.

But I guess many of us have to face 'waiting lists', or delays, and when we don't know why the delay is taking place, we get frustrated.

Having been stuck, as usual, on the M25 near the M3 junction yesterday, we were not surprised. That is what happens there!

The Bible is full of people who are waiting for God to take some action or other. 

The Psalmist is very vocal in such situations. He is not going to grin and bear it. He tells the Lord how bad it all feels. 

'O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever?

How long will you look the other way? 

How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, 

with sorrow in my heart every day? 

How long will my enemy have the upper hand? 

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! 

Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” 

Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall.' (Psalm 13.1-4)

In the midst of his anguish and despair, it is to God that he speaks and cries out. He in not trying to put a brave face on it, or to pretend that all is well. he knows he needs the Lord to act in one way or another. Mercifully, in this Psalm at least, the waiting is at last over, and he can look back to see that the Lord had been good to him.

'But I trust in your unfailing love. 

I will rejoice because you have rescued me. 

I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.' (Psalm 13.5-6)

But what do we do when there seems to be no end to our waiting? 

The prophet Habakkuk faces this issue head on, at the end of his prophetic words. 

'Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,

    and there are no grapes on the vines;
even though the olive crop fails,
    and the fields lie empty and barren;
even though the flocks die in the fields,
    and the cattle barns are empty,yet I will rejoice in the Lord!
    I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!The Sovereign Lord is my strength!
    He makes me as sure-footed as a deer,
    able to tread upon the heights.' (Habakkuk 3.17-19)

With our focus on the God in whom we trust, even when the evidence is not visible, is how the people of faith, in Old & New Testaments, face the waiting times.

That is a good lesson for me.

Best wishes,

Richard