Sacred Silence: Practicing

I will continue to wait patiently for the Lord
He turns to me and hears my cry
He is lifting me out of the slimy pit
- out of the mud and mire
He is setting my feet on a rock
and is giving me a firm place to stand
He is putting a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to Him, my God
I have seen
and I fear
and I can do nothing but put my trust in the Lord.

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I have been reminded of something so vital to my Christian faith...the continuous action tense of God's faithfulness and mercy is the rule by which I want so much to live my life. Live by the "i-n-g", if you will. Friday's solitude retreat went a long way in helping me to reclaim this rule, with the gentle nudging of the Father to turn to the Psalms for the poetry of the seeking man's heart.

To say "I wait patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry" is very powerful language. To rejoice in the mercies and faithfulness God has shown in time of need is not a thing to overlook.

But to be able to say "I am waiting patiently for the Lord; He turns to me and hears my cry" -- for me, this is much more necessary. So often life on earth is consumed by deadlines and demands; by immediate need and the visceral reactions to it. But the presence of the Lord is continuous and dependable. He will continue to hear our cries as we continue to bring them to him. To know that the act of waiting patiently is not something that ends -- to know it, and to live fully in that knowledge -- now that's a challenge if I've ever heard one.

More than two years ago I decided that to "live by the i-n-g" was how God was calling me to live. I took it so seriously that I branded myself permanently with the Greek word for "abiding" in that very sense. It stares up at me from my left foot, any time I care to look down, to challenge me to see where I am founded and grounded -- where I am abiding, and how I am remembering the continuous action of salvation and grace by which the Father continues to lavish his love upon us.

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The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)