God's Work In Our Waiting.

Those of you who know me at all, know that waiting is not my strong suit. I don’t like to wait in lines, in traffic, or for deliveries. I may be one of the only people that thinks Amazon’s free, two-day Prime shipping is too long. Waiting is not my strong suit.

Waiting is one of the hardest aspects of this season for me personally. We’re all doing a lot of waiting right now. We’re waiting to hear more information. We’re waiting to have restrictions lifted and be able to go about what to this point has been our normal lives. We’re waiting to be able to hang out face to face and worship on Sundays in person. We’re doing a lot of waiting.

The truth is, even outside of our present circumstances, so much of our life with Jesus is marked by waiting. In Romans 8 Paul talks about how all of creation and all of humanity is waiting with an innate, inward longing for Jesus to redeem all things. That waiting can take a significant toll on us. Whether it’s in the immediate sense as we wait for this season to pass, or the eternal sense where we wait along with all creation for God make right all that’s currently wrong, waiting can make us weary and wear us out. Waiting can cause doubt and discouragement. Waiting can make us anxious, even angry.

Anticipating all that, listen to how the Apostle Paul encouraged the church in Rome and would encourage you and I as we wait… Romans 8:26-28…

“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” (The Message)

Here’s a few things to note: First…

Fatigue is normal.

Paul says, “the moment we get tired in the waiting…” The very fact that Paul acknowledges the weariness and fatigue that comes through waiting, means it must be normative. If you feel tired, worn out, anxious, unsettled, fearful… you shouldn’t feel shame. That’s normal. Every follower of Jesus who’s ever lived experienced the same fatigue we are right now. There’s way better news than just that…The second Paul tells us is that…

The Holy Spirit is helping us by praying for us.

Have you ever been so worn out, or overwhelmed that when somehow asks how you’re doing, you don’t even know what to say, or where to start? Well, that happens in prayer too. Sometimes we don’t sit down to pray because we don’t even know what to say. Paul says when that happens the Holy Spirit is “making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.” Listen, success isn’t in pretty prayers with every word right and every thought clear. Success is showing up. Sitting with God, often just in silence, aware of His presence and trusting His Spirit to intercede on your behalf.

And finally, because God’s Spirit does that work…

We can rest assured that every detail will work for our good.

V28 says, “That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.” Think about how mind-blowing that promise! I don’t know how that works. I don’t know how God takes even the tragic and traumatic, the hard and the hurtful, scary and the sickening experiences we all have and somehow redeems them for our soul’s good. What I do know and what we have to choose to believe by faith, is that somehow, this is exactly what God promises us.

So, waiting is hard. But the good news of Romans 8 is that we never wait alone. God’s Spirit is working in our waiting. The question is will we engage the God who’s always there?

Maybe you need to write out a prayer today in order to really process through where you’re at. Maybe you need get alone and talk to God aloud so your mind doesn’t wander. Maybe you need to just sit in silence cause you don’t even know what to say and let the Holy Spirit intercede for you. Regardless of the medium, or mode of prayer you use, don’t neglect to engage the God who’s there.

Let me pray for you…

Holy Spirit, would you please comfort and strengthen us. You know us better than we know ourselves. So would you intercede perfectly on our behalf? Would you help us to turn to you in our weariness. Would you help us wait well, knowing that you’re working in our waiting. We pray this in Jesus comforting name, amen.