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“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” —PSALM 27:14 (NIV)

Reflect
It’s quite appropriate, I think, that the psalmist says it twice: “Wait for the Lord.” Some of us need to be told more than
once. Because honestly, waiting is so hard, but what else can we do? We wait for that surgery date, for graduation to finally roll around, for that job opportunity or for the first check to come in. For that baby to come, or for when you can finally get a full night’s sleep. For the phone call you long for, or the one you dread. But what do we do in the meantime? Maybe waiting isn’t passive. I once saw a video of a duck floating on a pond. From the surface it looked quite chill, until you saw it from below. The duck’s webbed feet were wildly moving. Perhaps that’s what waiting is like. It is a practice of strengthening our hope muscles. To laugh when we can, and pray when we can, and act when we can, trusting that God is up to something good.

Respond
Today, you have full permission to do something ridiculous or absurd with the only justification being to make yourself
smile or laugh—dance like nobody's watching or make a joke that nobody else would understand.

Blessing for when you’re tired of waiting for the world to get better

Blessed are we waiting with bated breath,
waiting for something new to be born
–for new hope, new joy, new life.

Blessed are we whose patience
grows thinner by the day.

We, tired of the world as it is
—in all of its heartache and loss
and hopelessness.
We who want more.
More hope. More joy. More life.

Blessed are we who sit here,
waiting
between desire
and expectation.
We who are making room
for more this Lent.

May we be surprised with joy
in the midst of sorrow,
abundance in the midst of pain,
peace and presence in the chaos.
As we hope it gets better.16

16 Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. Adapted from “For the Third Sunday of Advent – Joy” in The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. (New York: Convergent Books, 2023). 218-219.

© KateBowler.com