Do you feel like you’re constantly waiting for God to do something? Does your life feel like one giant waiting game? Suffering requires so much waiting, doesn’t it?
My latest round of suffering has brought a newly convicting awareness of my needed mindset shift in the waiting. It started on a recent morning of unrelenting nerve pain. Little shocks erupted over my body as I drank coffee, journaling and studying the Word. My pen dropped and the simple phrase on my coffee cup glistened in the sunrise:
The Lord is always with you.
My heart knew this simple Scriptural truth, but at that moment, He showered me with peace. God soothed and settled me, in the midst of a firestorm of pain.
In the moment, my prayers weren’t for relief. My heart was crying, “Loving and powerful God, help me know You’re with me as I wait for them to stop. I can’t handle this alone!” They finally did subside, by God’s healing mercy, but His new-old lesson reminded me that He is truly with me and I am never alone, in the midst of every moment of suffering.
So lately, He’s challenging me:
Am I obsessively fixated on the future outcome I desire, waiting on Him to act?
Or can I possibly dwell content in the present, waiting with Him, as He acts?
Can I rest in His always-present love, mercy, and compassion, remaining with Him in the moment?
Yes, I can and so can you, but only by His Spirit’s work in our hearts. Let’s sing-pray, beloved in Christ.
Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heav’n, to earth come down:
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown:
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter ev’ry trembling heart.
(“Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” Wesley, C., 1747)
God is with me, as a child of God
If our omnipresent God is always present everywhere, then He is always present with us…in this suffering. He’s always accessible. The word presence literally means “face” so He’s facing us, seeing us, knowing us, with us.
Do you remember a time that you knelt to a tearful child’s eye gaze? Remember when you stooped down to her trembling fear? To his painful cries from a scraped knee? You would never have left this suffering child whom you love. “Look at me, sweetie. Just look at my eyes. I’m right here with you.”
The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him (Lam. 3:24 ESV, emphasis added).
God is with me, as Immanuel
We can rejoice that Jesus is our Immanuel, “God with us” (Is. 7:14; Mt. 1:22-23).
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14 ESV).
The glorious One who created and sustains all things, Who is present everywhere and in all of time as we know it, is with us personally. His name is Jesus Christ.
Hear our Lord and Savior’s promise to us, fresh and new!
By God’s grace, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, [He] made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places” (Eph. 2:5-6 ESV). The Lord made us alive and now we are “with Christ.” Always! We may not feel like it when suffering screams loud, but our Lord woke us up this morning and we are alive by Him, through Him, for Him, and with Him. We have His gift of abundant love and grace for today’s challenge.
The Holy Spirit is within me, as I wait
Because we are in Christ, the Holy Spirit now dwells within us (1 Cor. 3:16). As we wait, He’s our strength, our guide, our comforter, our helper. Always present. He’s praying for us according to God’s will and He’s helping us in our weakness (Rom. 8:26-27). Romans 8 tells us that His prayers are groanings, even as we groan in waiting for the day when all suffering will finally end.
That day is our sure inheritance! The Holy Spirit is “the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:14 ESV). This is our hope as we wait! We will dwell face to face with Him forever in His visible presence!
Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
into ev’ry troubled breast;
let us all in thee inherit,
let us find the promised rest:
take away the love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.
God is with me as I wait to see Him
We’re waiting for the day when pain is no more, when sin and its horrifying effects are no more. We’re waiting for the day that we see Jesus as He is. We’re waiting, but with our beloved Savior, today! He’s waiting for that glorious day too, when He gathers His bride together and the wedding feast begins (Rev. 19:7-10).
Beloved, as we wait with hope, we have constant access to Him in prayer, possessing God’s continual presence with us as we suffer in this fallen world. We can tell Him anything we’re feeling, even that we’re so weary of waiting.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble (Ps. 46:1 ESV, emphasis added).
What are His comforting Scripture answers to you as you wait with Him today?
Material adapted from Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character in Our Suffering, Lauri A. Hogle. Copyright © 2022, Singing Christ’s Hope.
God is with me, so there can be fullness of joy!
Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be:
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory,
till in heav’n we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.
Our Lord keeps bringing me back to praising Him, into this time of waiting. He’s giving an overflowing abundance of peace when He helps me focus on His “in-the-moment” presence with me, as I suffer. It’s become a special experience of deep comfort when I remember what Jesus endured…for me:
For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too (2 Cor. 1:5 ESV).
He’s even brought a renewed joy when I realize I’m never alone in my pain and I’ll never be apart from Jesus. What a wonder!
The weekly YouTube playlists I’m creating are His gifts to help me remember the Lord is with me, in the moment. This week, the songs sing of God’s presence with us, through Christ and His Spirit. They thank and praise God for being with us in this waiting time. I’m praying the songs might help us all dwell with peace and joy, in His presence, as we wait with Him. If it would bless you to use these thematic, gospel-centered playlists also, just subscribe here and they will come to your email!
2 Comments
Donna · May 11, 2022 at 10:00 am
Beautiful words, Lauri. The waiting is always hard. And I wonder if it’s so hard because we wait with our eyes on our chosen outcome? As if this present moment held in the Presence of God is not enough. So often we have the knowledge of Immanuel; we know He is here. Yet, like a fretful child, we want what we cannot have right now-
Oh may the reality of the most precious gift of all, His Presence in the suffering, not outside of it, be what we desire most in the wait. May we experience the fullness of JOY promised us in His Presence-Psalm 16:11
Lauri Hogle · May 11, 2022 at 2:31 pm
Donna, this is exactly where the Lord took me recently. Perhaps this different (and freeing, even refreshing) mindset is how we can begin to rejoice in our suffering! I’m so overwhelmed and thankful to our patient and loving God, always with us. Have a beautiful day as you love others, in His presence and by His strength!! 🙏🏼✝️❤️
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