Goodness in the Land of the Living

Doesn’t it seem like the longer we wait for something to occur, the less likely we think it is to happen?
That call back for your dream job.
The clear health bill that you long to have.
That person you desire to treat you well to come around.
Marriage.
The baby.
Joy.
Whatever it is, the quicker something happens, the less time we have to wonder all the, “what-ifs” and, “maybe nots”.
I get it.
It’s been a year of waiting for God to match us with the child He has for our family. A year of praying and waiting and trusting and finding ourselves disappointed that, yet again, the situation in front of us was not “the one”. The longer we wait, the more we begin to wonder if we had heard God incorrectly- if maybe this isn’t what He has for our family after all.
Waiting for anything is simply painful.
“…we had hoped He was the one.” —Luke 24:21
The disciples were no strangers to waiting. It was the third day after Jesus had been crucified—the day that He had claimed He would show His risen-ness to a watching world. It felt like there was silence, and, in a weak moment, Cleopas (one of Jesus’ followers), said the seven words above that expressed his utmost disappointment and doubt.
We had hoped.
I find myself feeling this way in my own weak moments as well. Maybe you do, too?
You had hoped He would take the cancer away.
You had hoped the miracle would be given.
You had hoped the financial provision would appear.
You had hoped you wouldn’t be single still.
You had hoped a longing to enlarge your family would be fulfilled.
Friends, none of these are bad things within themselves.
Yet, I believe that God wants more for us.
Psalm 27:13–14 (the Amplified Version) says it this way:
“(What, what would have become of me) had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord, be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.”
Beloved, maybe the true miracle you and I need is not the one that shifts our circumstances but the one that transforms our hearts. Maybe, just maybe, if we would trust that we could see His goodness not outside of the current situation but smackdab in the middle of it- perhaps then the peace would follow. You see, we aren’t promised alleviation from all trials and pain and suffering on this side of heaven. But God. Always but God. His love for us is fierce and He knows that the only way we will truly ever trust Him is if He pries open our nervous, stubborn hands in order to help us let go of what’s enslaving us and hold fast to Who sustains us- only Himself.
Today, may we be a people who look past what’s in front of us and look up to the One who is in and above and sovereign over all things. He is the goodness we truly long to see. He is the One who works out all things for His glory and our good. He is the One we hope for- at all times. In all things. No matter what. Only Him.