The Waiting Place

 

This summer at church, we've been doing a series in Psalms.  Usually when you hear the word "Psalms", you think about nice, non-controversial, happy Bible verses that people write in birthday cards or quote as their favorites.  Well, I feel like this summer series hasn't seen a whole lot of that.  Two weeks ago, we talked about how Psalms addresses life's big letdowns.  Last week at our at our young adults/college/career/inbetweenhighschoolandhavingkids gathering at church, we talked about the idea of waiting in Psalm 13.

David has been promised the crown of Israel, but Saul's still got his derrière parked on the throne.  David is waiting for his big promotion, and it takes longer than he expects.  Psalm 13 is not one of those cheery, soft, snuggly Psalms.  It's frustrated, languishing, maybe even a little mad.  Now, remember, a psalm is a song, so Psalm 13 starts out a little more punk/rock/emo than your typical hymn.  It's kind of funny because in the notes above the Psalm, it says "To the choirmaster.  A Psalm of David.".  The Jews used this song in church.  I'm not really sorry if that rocked your boat just a little. 

Waiting makes me think of a passage from Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You'll Go"  (the book you got 17 copies of after high school graduation).

You can get so confused

that you'll start in to race

down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace

and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,

headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

or the waiting around for a Yes or No

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite

or waiting for the wind to fly a kite

or waiting around for Friday night

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants

or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

NO!

That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape

all that waiting and staying

You'll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,

once more you'll ride high!

Ready for anything under the sky.

Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Pasted from <http://denuccio.net/ohplaces.html>

I think he's right about some things.  I don't have an Uncle Jake, so I can't wait for him, but sometimes, just sometimes, I do wait for my hair to grow.  The Waiting Place can be excruciating.  You feel like you've been there forever and an answer will never come, things will never change or the situation you're stuck in will go on forever.  It can be heavy, crushing, even, waiting for the call, waiting for the test results, waiting for the court's decision, waiting for that other person to say something.  It can be frustrating, feeling like you have no control over the situation, like there's nothing you can do to make it better. 

But. 

I think he's wrong when he calls it "a most useless place".  I think he's wrong when he assures you that waiting is "not for you", as if you can somehow earn a "Get out of waiting FREE" pass.  Waiting can be boring at best, or heartrending at worst, but what it doesn't have to be is wasted.  God doesn't waste our time.  He doesn't place us in situations where we must wait for no reason.  Waiting is not (usually) some kind of punishment.  Waiting is not a sign that God has momentarily forgotten you but will reopen your file over His cosmic lunch break.  God is always working in the middle of our waiting. 

Well that's peppy.  Waiting is for our best.  It isn't a wasted life experience.  It doesn't mean you've slipped through a crack and been forgotten.  Yayyyy waiting!  No way, José, or Kristen, or Nicholas or whatever your name happens to be.  I'm not trying to say that waiting should feel easy.  I'm not trying to say that it won't feel like you've got an anvil sitting on your heart.  I'm not trying to say that you won't go through a whole range of emotions.  But read the end of the Psalm.  David feels all these things acutely, but at the end of the song, he writes this,

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD because He has dealt bountifully with me.

We can hang our hats on that word "but". 

This is painful and tiresome and frustrating and I have doubts and I have fears and and and… all these things.

But.

We are not forgotten or alone or unloved.  (Though it might feel like that sometimes.)  We cannot see the full scope of what God will do, but He can see it.  He has been gracious to us in rescuing us out of our mess and giving us a second (third, fourth, eighty-fifth) chance because of Christ. 

Hang in there, kiddo.  Your waiting is not wasted. 

Little Miss Sunshine