Waiting Quietly

Lynn McChlery November 06, 2026 3 1

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Lamentations 3: 24-26 (NIV-UK)

24 I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.’

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

Waiting is hard; waiting quietly is nearly impossible! Waiting makes us anxious about timescales, or resentful, or worried that things won’t work out. Even if we’re not shouting aloud, our minds are hard to silence. Waiting suggests a liminal space, feeling that we’re in transit: no longer where we were, not yet where we want to be. It’s too tempting to look back or to look forward, and very hard to fully inhabit the present moment – we yearn for something else!

Lamentations talks about waiting for the Lord. What does that mean? We may be awaiting God’s leading in a complex situation, or for God to fulfil something long promised, for God to provide an escape route, or somehow to intervene as only God can. Yet there is a still deeper invitation. “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.” Waiting for a person is a little different from waiting for an event. It’s less about expecting God to do something, and more about allowing space for God to show up, like anticipating the arrival of a friend.

“The Lord is my portion” recalls for me an old worship song by Graham Kendrick: ‘For this I have Jesus’. For this moment, for the past, for all that lies ahead, for this I have Jesus – not a plan or an answer, but a person. Usually in our praying, we faithfully remember to bring our thanks and needs to Jesus, and rightly so. When that’s done, how often do we linger and wait, leaving time just to experience and enjoy Jesus himself?

Prayer:

Lord, I pray today for those who wait anxiously. I think of people awaiting medical results or treatment, and those with degenerative illnesses whose future is dark. I pray for those anticipating bad news about jobs or housing. Strengthen them with faith that you are good to those who wait on you.

And I confess my own struggles with what I’m waiting for. Forgive me when I long to live in the past or in the future. Help me to enjoy your company today and be satisfied. Amen.