It's Good to Wait (Lamentations 3:24-26)
- John Kimbell
- May 4
- 3 min read
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” ²⁵The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. ²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. (Lamentations 3:24-26).
It seems to be a characteristic of human nature that we don’t like waiting. Modern culture’s obsession with efficiency only exacerbates the struggle. If we sit more than a few minutes in the drive-through, we start to wonder where the world has gone wrong. How much more difficult it is to wait patiently when you are in the midst of genuine, prolonged suffering.
How can it possibly be a “good” thing to have to “wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord”?
For one thing, waiting trains us by experience that the Lord really is sufficient as our “portion.” We are so prone to seek our joy and satisfaction in the things of this world. And while it is true that God gives us many good gifts to enjoy, He alone will finally satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts. Waiting pushes us to seek our contentment and place our hope in the Lord Himself rather than our immediate circumstances. It helps us taste this reality in our experience.
Furthermore, as we have the opportunity to wait on the Lord and experience the variety of ways in which He saves and provides, it encourages us to trust Him for the final salvation He has promised us in Christ. When you find yourself in the midst of suffering, doesn’t it often feel like it will never end? And yet most of us know what it is like to have been in a situation that felt that way, and then sooner than we expected, we experienced real relief:
The school year that you thought you would never survive suddenly gives way to summer.
The job situation that was so overwhelming and difficult changes and the burden lifts dramatically.
The exhaustion of caring for a newborn transitions into actual nights of sleep.
A season of relational loneliness is forgotten as new relationships spring up and blossom.
The point is not that seasons of suffering will always be relieved in this life. The point is that most of us know what it's like to be in the midst of suffering that feels like it will never end. But then it does. And that is a small foretaste of God’s promise to everyone who hopes in the Lord. For those who are in Christ, none of your suffering will last forever. All of it will give way to a glory and joy in the presence of the Lord that are beyond all comparison.
As the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:23-25, “We wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”
For Reflection
What circumstances in your life are tempting you to be impatient with God?
How does knowing that one day God will bring all of your suffering to an end give you hope?
Ask the Lord to help you wait eagerly and with patience.
John Kimbell is Pastor of Preaching at Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, where he has been serving since 2008. He completed his M.Div. and Ph.D. at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. John was introduced to regular Scripture memory through the Fighter Verses memory program at Bethlehem Baptist Church while attending college in Minnesota. John is married to Sarah and they have six children.
