100 Days of HopeSample

Groaning As We Wait

I’m not a particularly patient person. Constantly hurrying. Looking for shortcuts. Calculating my options. Be it roadways or grocery lines, waiting makes me groan—and that’s putting it mildly!

I’m not much better when it comes to having patience with the pain, brokenness, sin, twistedness, and corruption that smacks me in the face every day. I know in my head that Satan was dealt a death blow on the cross of Christ and that God’s sovereign purposes will trump Satan’s evil schemes, but I groan in the waiting.

I whine and demand, like a little girl in the backseat on a trip, “When will we be home? I want this to be over! Are we there yet?!”

Paul’s words in Romans resonate deeply with the experience of my own soul. He reassures me that groaning is not incompatible with faith. It is, rather, a sign of fidelity. (Hill, Wesley. Washed and Waiting. 2010.)

According to Paul, mine is not a solo voice. I groan with all of creation. Imagine the deafening din of every creature on the face of the earth groaning in unison!

How mind-blowing when that din of groaning gives way to a chorus of, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns” (Revelation 19:6). May this hope bolster our faith and service—even as we groan while we wait.

Prayer: Father, we pray for restoration of the earth to be unleashed and your return to be soon. Give us hope as we wait.