Awareness in the Waiting

I was sitting one morning and thinking about hope. How does one have it? How can one have it and another doesn't? I searched scripture for some answers and I landed on Lamentations 3, verses 21-33.

The author starts the chapter with sharing his bitterness, but he stops himself:

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; let him put his mouth in the dust — there may yet be hope; let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.

For the Lord will not cast off forever, but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.

I found the Holman commentary insightful:

"Just as quickly as the prophet was tempted by bitter thoughts, he adopted a better line of thought: instead of brooding over his anguish and sorrow, he would put his hope in the love of the Lord, because His compassions never fail. Here is the heart of this book: Great is Your faithfulness. Yahweh Himself was the poet's portion. (20-24)

The dominant thought of this section is that the Lord is good. 

All five triads in this section (25-27, 28-30, 31-33, 34-36, 37-39) begin not only with the same letter from the Hebrew alphabet, but with the same Hebrew word or related words in each line. (25-39)

God's goodness is presented in three aspects (25-27):

1. God is good in His nature and being
2. God is good to those who have learned to wait silently and endure His lessons through suffering
3. God is good to those who submit agreeably to divine providence. 

This triad teaches how a person is to suffer patiently (28-30) : 

1. allow for reflection with God
2. keep from speaking in anger
3. have an attitude of humility.

Each tactic is increasingly difficult, an each raises the hope that God will deliver His people from trouble. 

Because of the Lord's compassion, there are limits to our suffering. (31-33)"

I'm still waiting for certain things in life and I'm grateful for the waiting with Him. I continue to see God's faithfulness, His steadfast love, and His care. Life is still going on. I have let go of my own timeline. It's common for people to exchange where they see themselves in five years or how they would like to plan out their lives, but speaking from my own experience, our plans aren't promised. But God's plans are. Only in scripture does "always" and "never" and "forever" mean something. He has the right to those words.

Life could go on even without the things we wait for. As life is still moving and happening, how are we during the waiting? I can wait and trust while I wait; nothing is telling me that He's unfaithful.

The other night I was talking with my mom about waiting. She said humans are always waiting for something. I then said, "Even animals can wait patiently, why can't we wait patiently?" She responded, "Because we are aware of it." 

The heart and mind can go many different ways as it's aware of the wait. And scripture says, "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." 

Psalm 130 says, 

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 

my soul waits for the Lord 

    more than watchmen for the morning,

    more than watchmen for the morning.

In the midst of waiting, while the things we're waiting for may not be present just yet, other things are happening. God is still with us and our souls are being tended to. We can still say, "Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul." (Psalm 66:16)

Soon enough we'll see what we've been waiting for couldn't compare to the Lord's love and comfort, His salvation and forgiveness. Our souls will know that and be content in Him. And it's in the waiting that we see that.