Wait Quietly
Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:19-26
The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him . . . it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
We were driving home one snowy night. Two plow trucks were ahead of us, one in each lane of the highway. Traffic was slow. Over the next few miles we observed one car after another pull right up to the bumper of the vehicle in front of it, as if that would help them get to their destination faster. Soon there was a long line of cars jockeying for position.
We get impatient when things do not move as quickly as we think they should. We push. We grumble. We question the plow driver’s character. We might even ask why God is allowing this to happen to us. We try to make something happen.
The author of Lamentations was living through the worst experiences anyone could imagine. Jerusalem had fallen. Its people had been carried into exile. Its rivals were mocking and rejoicing. Worst of all, God seemed to have abandoned them. Yet in the midst of his mourning the writer says, “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
To wait quietly is the opposite of trying to make things happen. Instead of grumbling, complaining, or shouting, waiting means trusting in God. To wait quietly is to trust that even when things are as bad as they could be, God is faithful and his mercies are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness!
Lord, your compassions never fail. Help us to wait quietly for your salvation, trusting that we have seen your great faithfulness revealed in Jesus. Amen.
About the author — Norman Visser
Norman Visser has served as a pastor of churches in Ontario, Nova Scotia, and South Dakota. He states that while he is “not known for waiting patiently,” he is “working on it.” Norman and his wife, Marcia, have three children.
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