Waiting.
It's almost like a four-letter word in our society. We despise waiting. Whether it's waiting in line at the grocery store or waiting for the internet to behave with a slow connection, these minor inconveniences can really cause angst.
But what about when waiting is more than an inconvenience? What about when it's painful, confusing, disillusioned, disappointing and discouraging? The effects of waiting can have a far greater impact than simply being a brief, obnoxious slow down in our day.
Waiting can of course be a good thing. Waiting for the right person to spend our lives with or waiting for the right job or right timing to pursue our interests and desires... waiting can be good and growing, no doubt.
Often though, waiting is just plain HARD.
I was having a conversation with a friend today and we were chatting about this theme of 'waiting.' It looks different for the both of us, in the different seasons of life we find ourselves currently. But we are both waiting and have both felt the deep sting of hope deferred as Proverbs 13:12 states. I love how the Bible perfectly and succinctly sums it up - "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life." Ain't that the truth?
Our church is in a sermon series this advent season and one of the brief points mentioned on Sunday was the role Joseph played in the life of Jesus - he gets no lines in the play, but he is a key character. The angel appeared to Joseph in a dream in Matthew 1 and tells him what's up. Mary's gonna have a baby (oh yeah, they're engaged, and the baby isn't his -- scandalous) and is pregnant by the Holy Spirit (ok, not so scandalous, but very unusual...) and his name is to be Jesus. Matthew then refers back to the propecy in Isaiah 7:14 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call him Immanuel." This prophecy was given 740 years before Christ was born. Can you imagine waiting for the Christ-child say 300, 400, 500 years after it was prophesied? I imagine there were some God-fearing individuals who had a few questions for God, namely, "Uh God, did you forget your promise? How long will we have to wait? Can we even trust this promise...? It's been so long..."
An interesting trait of God is, he's never in a hurry. He's not too late, nor too early. I often times have difficulty fully getting on board with his timing, but he doesn't consult me first. It reminds me of Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. He tells Frodo "A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to." While humorous in the context it was written, how true it is for God. He gets to write a story of redemption across all creation through the millennia -- nope, not in a hurry.
In fact, if you find yourself in a long period of waiting also, you're in good company. Waiting seems to be the human condition since the dawn of time.
A few examples -
Joseph in the book of Genesis, waiting to be let out of prison, having been falsely accused of indecency.
Abram & Sarah also in the book of Genesis, waiting for a child, for 90 and 100 years -- even back then, this was WAY past childbearing years.
Job waiting for an explanation and redemption of all he had lost -- his family, home, livestock and health.
The people of Israel after being freed from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh in Egypt wait 40 years to enter the promised land, wandering and eating manna from heaven.
The woman with the issue of blood, the cripple, the beggar and all the rest in the New Testament waiting for someone to just look their direction with compassion and maybe spare a few cents for their next meal. Their real desire was healing, and Jesus met them there.
All believers are also waiting for the return of Christ.
So, waiting is unavoidable. It's 'in our blood' you could say. It doesn't make the waiting easier to know that thousands of others have experienced similar pain and heartache, but it is comforting to know we're not alone in it.
In the periods of waiting, I've found some of my deepest and most honest conversations with God. I've been real and raw; I think that honors him. He doesn't want my masquerade -- he desires my authenticity. God in his goodness knows that sometimes waiting is the very thing that draws us back to his throne room of grace, back to his feet. There he meets us and ministers to our heavy and downcast hearts.
So as we look toward Advent, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, we also remember the thousands who waited for him after the prophecy in Isaiah was spoken.
We realize we are not alone in our waiting, and God can handle our true, raw and honest thoughts. And though his timing almost assuredly looks different than ours, he will not tary.
"Yet a little while and the coming one will come and will not delay..." (Habakkuk 2:3)
