I am in a period of waiting. (I misspelled “waiting,” and autocorrect changed it to “eating.” This also may be true.) I survived three MRIs in one afternoon a couple of weeks ago. I have always been an overachiever, you see. I had an at-home sleep test one night this week. For one who snores like I do, sleeping without my CPAP mask left me with a vicious sore throat.

There is one other item I am waiting on, but let’s not speak of it at this time. 

After the doctors accelerated the timelines for these tests, someone poured molasses on the results. Not a single finding has been relayed to my inbox or voicemail. 

There are days of waiting when we are as sure as we can be, as hopeful as hopeful can be, that Mr. Postman will have the magic letter for me. ([https://bit.ly/43ID6kS]) There are days when we can feel it deep in our bones that news, good news, is on the way. And then, against all odds, we find we have to wait another day.

King David was accustomed to waiting on God and not waiting long. He was waiting for good news on a bad day when he wrote Psalm 5. Listen to the words he uses to describe his state of mind. “Pay attention to my groaning.” “Listen to my cry for help.”

King David, who wrote so many songs that make us want to shout, also wrote a few that make us want to weep. He was not unfamiliar with life’s hard times. Thank God he did not simply record happy little ditties of praise and thanksgiving. Thank God he also wrote down his sad songs that say so much of what we want to say and need to say and otherwise would not know how to say.

Why could David pray this way? Scan down the page and find verses 11 and 12. He remembered what God had done for him in times gone by. He remembered how God heard and answered his prayers before. He remembered and turned his groans and cries into preemptive praise and thanksgiving. 

When you know the heart of God, when you have seen the hand of God in action, you can anticipate what is coming next even if you have to wait. God is good. He takes even the worst events of our lives and gives beauty for ashes. You are free to weep before God. Tell him your gut-level agony. Express your grief. Feel your pain. Do all this in confidence because he who brought you safely this far will surely lead you on. 

Here is a truth to stand on: If we lovingly lean on Jesus, our stories are guaranteed to end in eternal praise and unending thanksgiving. Waiting is uncomfortable. Receiving God’s best in God’s timing is wonderful. 

God is worth waiting for.

Listen to how King David prayed for himself, those who lived in his day, and by extension, you and me.

“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them sing joyful praises forever.
Spread your protection over them, that all who love your name may be filled with joy.
For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love.”

Sing David’s song as if you wrote it yourself. Say it aloud with courage and confidence. Pray it in the morning. Pray it at noon. Pray it as you lie down and rest. Pray it with tears of grief as you begin knowing you will end your prayer with tears of joy.

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I will take my problems to God every morning and wait expectantly.

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Our Father, you hear us when we pray. You welcome our consternation. You receive our accusations. You are patient with our sobs and anger. You listen. You hear. You continue working your amazing grace in our lives in unseen ways even as we groan and lament. You are preparing better days even as we stare at obstacles too big to overcome. Thank you for not asking us to pray pretty prayers and sing light-note fairy-tale songs when our hearts are heavy. Thank you for how you take our heavy-hearted prayers and turn them into songs of praise. Thank you for helping us end better than we begin. Thank you for how our worst and last is really the best of all. Amen.