waiting patiently for a new song

Waiting. Patiently. Not a strong suit for many of us. I just spent three hours waiting in a plane parked at a departure gate for the repair of a radio. Would have been easier to wait if the captain had not told us that the radio that they needed to fix was for international use (we were on a domestic flight) but it needed to be fixed per FAA regulations nonetheless.

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He brought me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

U2
40
from (you guessed it) Psalm 40

Yes sometimes our waiting bears fruit. Sometimes it causes us to sing a new song. Earlier in the day as I was waiting in the airport to hook up with the other 7 people heading to Haiti with Feed My Starving Children, I leaned against a pole beside an adjacent departure gate. What turned out to be the members of our flight crew were standing at the gate conversing as they waited for the plane to arrive so we could board the flight. My ears perked up as I heard the flight attendant raving about a recent trip to Feed My Starving Children with her eight year old son. She was going on and on about the amazing work that FMSC does and how fulfilled she felt every time she packed food. I wondered how long I should wait before interrupting her and telling them I was on my way to visit the children she had been packing food for.


Just as the flight attendant started telling the story of baby Moses that is included in the FMSC orientation video, Mark Crea, the executive director of FMSC walked up to greet me. We said hello to each other and I promptly interrupted the flight crew’s conversation to introduce Mark and share in a moment of serendipitous divine interuption. The crew was blown away. We spent the next few minutes in one of those high energy I can’t believe what just happened conversations. It was a whirlwind of spirit that needed no interpretation as to its meaning. (The flight attendant even took a picture to capture the moment!)

Sometimes, while we are waiting, we see that we are an integral part of something that is way bigger than we can imagine. Sometimes, while we are waiting, we can see God’s mission clearly and know that we belong to that mission in a very important way. And sometimes, after this period of waiting, God intercedes mightily and we begin to sing a new song.

A song that is filled with passion and purpose and harmonies of our connectedness. A song that is hidden deep within all of us longing to be sung.

A song that gives us life. A song that gives the world life.

A song that brings our waiting to a quiet end.