Mark Sorensen Waiting can be the worst, right? Maybe it’s traffic. Maybe it’s in line at the grocery store or, dare I say it, those sacredly painful moments waiting for your number to be called at the DMV. But there’s another type of waiting that can be excruciating: waiting on the Lord.
What do you do with those moments where you pray and you feel like your words don’t rise past the ceiling? How do you crawl through those moments where your heart is broken and your knees hurt from the prayers of deliverance you are lifting up daily?
Take some notes from King David in Psalm 40:1-3
“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” Psalm 40:1-3
We don’t quite know where David was in his life as he penned these words, but we can find encouragement in these three things found within his prayer: delay, deliverance and delight.
Delay. We live in a culture where we get immediate results. Want the latest New York Times bestseller? Click a button and have it delivered to your doorstep within twenty-four hours. Want to stream a movie or television show right now? There’s a button and streaming service for that. Immediate gratification. We’re really a culture that has to wait for very little. Perhaps that’s why waiting for God to speak or deliver can be so excruciating. Yet, God’s silence does not translate to God’s absence. In the midst of David’s cries, he waited, “patiently.” Perhaps your “midnight” is dark, but remember this: midnight is the beginning of another day. Deliverance. It’s a powerful reminder that out of the delay, deliverance can be found. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul hears, amidst his thorn in the flesh, these words from the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for you because my power will be made perfect in your weakness.” What a beautiful reminder that, amidst the “delay,” God’s deliverance is made available. And knowing this truth? God’s delight breaks through. Here’s where a new song of hope and promise can be found within the brokenness of our despair.
Look within the pages of scripture and you see this prayer in many forms. David prayed them. Joseph prayed them. The apostle Paul prayed them. Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane prayed them. And those prayers are our prayers; the promises then are our promises today.
Have hope, friends. Amidst the delay, deliverance can be found, amidst the deliverance comes God’s delight richly poured over every single one of us.
