I will never forget the August and September weeks that I spent waiting through a job interview process. In the uncertainty of whether the Lord would invite me to move across the country, away from everything that I knew and called home, I simply wanted to crawl deeper under the blankets every morning to keep another day of suspense at bay. The waiting felt endless and empty—not because I thought my season lacked meaning, but because it opened up space, uncomfy space, in my heart and soul.
Perhaps you have also experienced a time like this, or are in it even now—awaiting a job prospect, medical result, hope of pregnancy, or some other impending life change. During times when we must patiently trust God’s plan, it is better to acknowledge and process the newfound emotions that inhabit our interior space than to disengage from them. If we do this properly, the space of a waiting season will reveal the full extent of the space of our hearts.
Just as movies sometimes reach slower plot moments, my storyline had fallen still, too, as I awaited the outcome of those weeks. Yet an effective soundtrack moves a film’s momentum forward even through such a lull. Likewise, I discovered the power of music for difficult moments of our lives: our waiting seasons also need a soundtrack.
A New Song Unto the Lord
I love to fill the ambiance of a quiet mundane afternoon with my favorite melodies. Music reaches deep, allowing us to express emotions and experiences that mere words cannot disclose. Sometimes, when trials weary and impoverish our spirits, our ordinary ways of praying do not suffice to express the movements of our hearts, but the transcendence of music can bridge that gap and powerfully capture the dispositions of our hearts.
Yet during a difficult season or a waiting space, we may be tempted to do some things simply for the sake of powering through; if we’re not careful, the way we listen to music can be one of these things. Song can either recollect or distract us; the pleasant strains that fill my ears once I hit “play” have a potent ability to fill the space of my soul. What should the music of my heart be amid waiting?
My Strength and My Song
Scripture itself holds an entire collection of songs and hymn verses for us: the 150 Psalms were sung by God’s people as they approached God in worship or contritely faced their brokenness. The Psalms express joy, surrender, desire, lamentation, and worship, encompassing the full spectrum of our emotions from noble highs to desolate lows.
One of my theology professors in college emphasized the value of the Psalms as consolations and confessions of God’s goodness, pointing out that Saint Augustine refers to the Psalms as “devotional sounds that drive out pomposity”—antidotes to pride (Confessions, trans. Wills, 9.II.8). For Augustine, scriptural songs could remedy and correct the wayward dispositions of his soul (and evidently, he steeped himself in the Psalms, for he quotes them copiously in his Confessions). Many Saints likewise steeped themselves in Scripture, including my own patroness Elizabeth Ann Seton who loved many Psalms, especially Psalm 23. Saints like these can show us how these melodious movements of Scripture can provide the soundtrack to our difficult times and help us live for Heaven.
Worship Songs for Waiting Well
Although the job far away did not materialize for me that autumn, the Psalms and music based on them inspired how I filled that time of expectant stillness and spiritual desolation. If you are also drawn to music, perhaps the Lord has a set of melodies to fill the slower movements of your journey. The following songs became meaningful to my prayer: may they help you also to take heart and become your words of life amid waiting.
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Among These Rocks by Marie Miller // “Teach us to sit still, even among these rocks. Our peace in His Will, even among these rocks. There’s light on the hill, even among these rocks…” With her powerful songcraft around lyrics inspired by T.S. Eliot’s poem “Ash Wednesday,” Marie Miller reminds us that, although desolations often send us over painful “broken granite” and “shifting sand,” the Lord consoles those who seek His will amid the ache.
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Just Be Held by Casting Crowns // “And when you’re tired of fighting, chained by your control, there’s freedom in surrender, lay it down and let it go.” When fears set in, we must fix our eyes on the Savior rather than on the storm. His strength, not our own frenzied grip, best supports us.
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Preference by Rachel Morley // “What if it doesn’t look like what I thought it would? What if you come in ways I didn’t know You could? Offend my mind, reveal my heart. I won’t worship my preference anymore.” Entrusting our plans to the Lord often comes with vulnerable questions, as this beautiful worship song highlights.
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Brave New Step by Marie Miller // “Painted every scene of my future, memorized the shadows and the light. Now I’m here erasing all these endings, ‘cause life decides to draw out of the lines.” This song offers consolation to the grieving or anxious heart. We can rise from sorrow to surrender with one small, courageous step at a time.
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Highlands (Song of Ascent) by Hillsong United // “So I will praise You on the mountain, and I will praise You when the mountain’s in my way. You’re the summit where my feet are, so I will praise You in the valleys all the same . . .” Like many of the Psalms, these lyrics remind us that God is faithful in both hills and valleys, “in the highlands and the heartache all the same.”
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Cecie’s Lullaby by Steffany Gretzinger // “All you need is here inside My arms; just breathe, and you’ll be safe and sound with Me.” The ebb and flow of piano and strings in this piece invites us to pause and breathe deeply, seeking refuge with One Who’s “been a Father for a long time.”
Let Your Soul Sing Magnificat
Most of all, the Blessed Mother shows how our most intricate emotions unite in melody, Scripture, and prayer. She knew Scripture so well that her words of Magnificat in Luke 1:46-55 echo verses of the Psalms and Isaiah, also mirroring the praises offered by Hannah (1 Samuel 2), Judith (Judith 16), and Miriam (Exodus 15). By her canticle of confidence and entrustment, Mary teaches us to sing a new song to the Lord and to let hope fill the space of our hearts. May our song also magnify the Lord in times of abundance and of waiting alike.
Leila Joy Castillo calls Florida home but left her heart in hill country long ago. An alumna of Ave Maria University, she freelances in Catholic communications and is a published writer, primarily on Blessed is She and Ascension. When not dabbling in the multitudinous Google docs of her articles, Leila delights in music, personalist philosophy, quality time with her younger siblings, and her literary trifecta: Austen, Lewis, and Dante. You can find her on Instagram @leila_joyinthejourney or follow her personal site here.
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