Waiting

 

There is a sweet children’s picture book that our three kids enjoyed when they were younger called Waiting Is Not Easy. At the very start of this story, Piggie tells her elephant friend Gerald that she has a surprise for him. Over the next few pages, Gerald’s excitement builds as he anticipates the surprise, but then Piggie tells him that he must wait for it because the surprise is not there yet. Throughout the majority of the book, the two wait together for the surprise – Piggie patiently and contentedly waits with a smile on her face while Gerald gets more and more agitated as time goes by, groaning and complaining about the long wait. Meanwhile, the white background of the pages becomes subtly darker. Gerald himself notes how dark it is getting and is frustrated because the day has almost ended and the surprise has still not come. He thinks he has wasted the whole day, wailing, “We have waited and waited and waited and waited. And for what?” At this point, Piggie says, “For that” and points up. As you turn the next page, the camera lens (so to speak) zooms out and you see that Gerald and Piggie are standing under a beautiful sky filled with stars. They look up and stand in silence, and then Gerald says, “This was worth the wait.” Piggie responds, “I know.”

            Waiting is hard, isn’t it? Just this afternoon, I was reminded of a matter I used to pray about for years that I longed to see happen and which the Lord brought about in the last few years in a unique way. I didn’t know if it would happen or how, but I did desire it, and God chose to answer that request after a season of waiting. We all have things on our hearts that we are praying about, waiting to see how God will answer. And in many of these matters, we are not guaranteed a certain outcome. Yet God has made us promises that we can know for certain will come to pass, even as we wait for it to be so. He has promised to work all things for good in the lives of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). He has promised that His Word will not return void (Isaiah 55:11). He has promised a future inheritance that is kept in heaven for those who have placed their faith in Him (1 Peter 1:4-5). He has promised a new heaven and a new earth where sin and death will be no more (Revelation 21:1-4).

            Advent is a season of waiting. We are reminded of the thousands of years between God’s promise of a Savior and the day that Savior was born as a baby in the small town of Bethlehem. Generations of Israelites waited. They died, having not yet seen the fulfillment of that promise. I’m sure there were those who, like Gerald in the story above, groaned, tired of the long waiting and maybe beginning to wonder if the moment would ever come. Yet, in God’s perfect time, “the fullness of time” as Paul writes in Galatians, God sent His Son.

            In this Christmas season, let us remember that God always keeps His promises even when the waiting seems long. God’s timing is perfect, and our waiting is not wasted. Our trust in Him deepens, and our dependence on Him grows. Let us also remember that there is another advent coming. The same Christ who came the first time as a baby will come the second time as a King. In the meantime, let us walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (Philippians 1:27). Let us rejoice in Him and all that He has done on our behalf (Phil. 4:1). Let us bear suffering and trials with endurance, knowing that God is at work and that we can trust Him with our lives (1 Peter 1:6, 4:19). In all things, let us fix our eyes on Jesus (Heb. 12:1). And when He returns at His second advent, we too will lift our eyes to the sky and know that the long wait was worth it.

--Amy O'Rear