Waiting, Still Waiting

Recently, I came across a poem by J. Danson Smith that spoke to my heart. I pray it speaks to yours as well.

Waiting! Yes, patiently waiting!
Till next steps made plain shall be;
To hear, with the inner hearing,
The Voice that will call for me.

Waiting! Yes, hopefully waiting!
With hope that need not grow dim;
The Master is pledged to guide me,
And my eyes are unto Him.

Waiting! Expectantly waiting!
Perhaps it may be today
The Master will quickly open
The gate to my future way.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!
I know, though I’ve waited long,
That, while He withholds His purpose,
His waiting cannot be wrong.

Waiting! Yes, waiting! still waiting!
The Master will not be late:
He knoweth that I am waiting
For Him to unlatch the gate.

If we were having a conversation over coffee, we could analyze and apply the truths in this poem for hours. But blogs aren’t supposed to be too long, so let’s just focus on the progression seen in the adverbs throughout the five stanzas:

• Patiently waiting
• Hopefully waiting
• Expectantly waiting
• Still waiting
• Still waiting

Yep, that’s me. I may start off waiting patiently, hopefully, even expectantly. But the longer the wait, the harder it gets to remain patient, hopeful and expectant. Part of me believes that if God would just tell me when His answer is coming, waiting for it would be much easier. But the truth is, everything in the Christian life requires faith, especially waiting for God to act. And if I require God to work according to my timetable, then my faith is not faith at all.

And so I wait. Sometimes patiently, sometimes hopefully, sometimes expectantly.

And sometimes I simply wait in faith, believing that God will answer in His time. My emotions may be too frayed to feel patient or hopeful or expectant. But that’s OK because we’re to pray in faith, not feelings.

As one writer has put it, “God has His set times. It is not for us to know them; indeed, we cannot know them; we must wait for them.”

And so we wait for the Lord. We find strength in Him and take heart as we wait for the Lord (Psalm 27:14).