Waiting can be one of the most challenging things a human being is called to do. When we are young it is especially hard to wait. We say, “I can’t wait for Christmas! or my birthday, or whatever it is we are anticipating. But, as we get older waiting doesn’t seem to get any easier, does it?
It’s hard to wait for news from the lab. It’s difficult to wait for a hoped for phone call, text or email. We may find ourselves checking our devices repeatedly, anxiously waiting when wanting to know something now.
America is currently getting a lesson in waiting. We are awaiting the results of this week’s Presidential election, after waiting all the weeks for it to get here. Several states remain in play as I write this blog, two days after Election Day. But this is not all we are waiting on. We are also waiting on some good news about the 2020 health pandemic. We are waiting on a vaccine or proven therapeutic that will hold this virus at bay and allow life to return to some semblance of pre-pandemic living. Once that treatment is approved we will be waiting for it to be distributed.
As a full-fledged citizen of contemporary culture I too wish we didn’t have to wait so long. Like you, I’m used to day of results, quick service and timely outcomes. Yet, as one who reads and studies Scripture and strives to follow Christ, I know that God often reveals things through waiting. Just consider how many times the people of God endured long periods of waiting. Generations of Hebrews waited for deliverance in Egypt (430 years). Then they waited 40 years in the wilderness. Later it was 70 years in exile. Then they waited 400 years from the last Old Testament prophet to John the Baptist’s announcement of Messiah Jesus. Waiting has been baked into the faith experience. God is seldom in a hurry. Faith is a long obedience in the same direction.
In truth when we follow Christ all of life is about waiting. We await the full coming of the Kingdom of God. We wait for creation to be restored. We wait to join the company of all the saints. We wait for Jesus to come again.
So, this waiting thing, while tiresome and a bit tedious, is not new. We should be well-practiced in it. It’s what we do while waiting that may be more important. Do we fret? worry? complain? whine? Not too much will come of any of that. Do we pray? ponder? reflect? listen? Probably a much better set of choices. Do we trust? Put our faith in God’s future? Prioritize not according to this world’s powers and principalities, but those of the kingdom of heaven? Do we sit with the one who is anxious? Console the one who is grieving? Encourage the one who is despondent?
Waiting could be a productive exercise if only we had the patience to do it well.
danielcash 