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By Whitney Swindle
“I waited patiently for the Lord;” Psalm 40:1a
Over the course of this past year, my husband and I have been in a season of waiting. And while I know that all of life will entail some kind of waiting, it feels like we have been in a season of waiting on lots of really big things. Most recently, we are waiting on some answers regarding my husband’s job, and it made me wonder…
Did I? Am I… waiting patiently for the Lord?
Nothing about the state of my heart feels patient right now. I’m tired of waiting. And to make things even harder, in the midst of our waiting, we’ve been wounded. Have you ever felt this way? Maybe you’re in a season of waiting right now, too. Are you tired? Are you weary? Are you wounded?
“When will we move? Where will we live? When do we tell the kids? How will they respond? What will our jobs look like? Am I equipped to do my job? Will my mother-in-law get better? Will she beat cancer? Will my father-in-law’s treatment continue to fight his Alzheimer’s? How will we honor and care for them? Will we be ok financially? Will our wounds be noticed? Will the wrong be acknowledged?”
Waiting… and more waiting…
I have no answers to any of these questions. And yet the Lord tells me to wait patiently for Him. I tell my kids to “be patient” all the time. Often it comes with a frustrated tone on the heels of whining. God’s voice is not like that. He tells me to be patient because He has turned His heart towards me and He is listening with perfect intention.
“He inclined to me and heard my cry.” Psalm 40:1b
The dictionary defines “incline” in this context as “to bend towards someone”. It means He leans in.
In all my frustration with the waiting, He leans in.
When I’m whining about my unanswered questions, He leans in.
When my heart is broken over the wounds dealt to us, He leans in.
When my heart is fearful of unknown outcomes, He leans in.
When I want to take control and make a way myself, He leans in.
I can wait patiently because when He leans in, He hears me.
He hears me and He “draws me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and sets my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure” (vs. 2).
In other words, He leans in and picks me up out of this mess I’m in, cleans me off, and sets me securely on the path that He has for me. As much as I am weary of this waiting, Psalm 40 reminds me that trusting Him is worth it. Following Jesus is worth it because no other path makes my steps secure. No other path has a gentle voice leaning in whispering, “I see you. I hear you. I have you. I love you.”
If you’re anything like me, it is far too easy to forget the ways the Lord has already rescued me out of the “miry bog”, out of the swamps of this life. Our feet are secure, not because our lives are easy or the path is clear, but because we are led by Jesus. Our feet are secure because Jesus is with us. My path is secure because in the end, it leads to eternity with Jesus. My circumstances will most likely not change in the time frame that I have laid out in my head, and when I dwell on that, I feel discouraged. I do not know when we will have answers to some of these really big questions, but I know that Jesus gave His life for me and He is worthy of my trust.
Whether you’re in a season of waiting, you’ve been wounded, or you’re struggling to trust what the Lord has for you, Psalm 40:4 reminds us “blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust.”
