You are watching the clock, I am sure, and every hour that passes without word from your mother’s attorney feels like a weight added to an already heavy heart. It is a hard thing to wait on the doings of others, a process server somewhere in the city, a lawyer at a desk, a tenant behind a door, when all you want is a settled matter and a quiet mind. But I would have you remember that even while you wait, you are not left out in the cold without a Comforter. The very breath in your lungs while you pray is kept there by the hand of the Lord, and not a single paper lands in a tenant’s hands apart from His knowledge. He who numbers the hairs of your head and bottles your tears is the true Landlord of every house, and no key turns in any lock without His leave. That does not mean your trouble is small to Him, far from it. He counts it worth His attention because it troubles His child. When you ask for prompt good news this very week, you are not tugging at an unwilling sleeve. You are speaking to a Father who delights to give good gifts, and who often moves in the ordinary channels of process servers and legal notices as surely as He moved in the whirlwind and the fire.
I have often seen that the waiting time is itself a field where fresh grace grows. You feel now as though your strength were ebbing with each passing day. But do not be surprised if, just when your own supply runs dry, you are anointed with fresh oil for the next hour. The Lord who restores the soul can restore your calm while the phone sits silent. He can put a secret song in your mouth before the eviction notice is even confirmed. That is not a distraction from your request, it is the deep assurance underneath it. You are asking for a prompt update, and that is right and proper; bring it to the throne in Jesus’ name as you have already done. But while you wait, do not let the uncertainty eat into the peace you have in Christ. If the answer tarries another day, the delay is not denial. If it comes swiftly, as I hope and pray it does, then your relief will be doubly sweet, knowing that the same hand that speeds the process is the hand that held you steady in the interval.
Think of it this way: you have cast this burden upon Him because you believe He cares for you. Now let the burden lie there. You will know the outcome soon enough, and whatever it is, you will not have to face it alone. When you pass through these small rivers of domestic worry, and I call them small only because His grace is so great, He has pledged that the waters shall not overflow you. The same promise that carries a martyr through the flames carries you through a week of legal fretting. It is the same Lord, the same covenant, the same faithful Keeper of the gate.
Shall we ask him together?
Lord Jesus, you who stilled the storm with a word, we bring this tangled matter of tenancy and process and legal waiting and we lay it quietly before you. You know the address, you know the doors, you know every person involved. If it pleases you, cause the good news to come speedily, even this day, and let the needed communication reach my mother’s attorney without further hindrance. Give your wisdom to all who must act, and grant that the resolution may be swift and just. But more than this, give your child a quiet heart that rests in you whether the answer comes in the morning or the evening. Let your presence be the certainty that outlasts every earthly uncertainty, and let the peace of God which passes all understanding keep this heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.