December 17, 2024

Hi Friends, 

Waiting is pea-picking hard, is it not? 

We’re in Advent, the season of waiting and hoping and I fully affirm that it’s good to  both wait and hope and also to wait in hope. Tim did a great job of talking about that  this past Sunday. 

But the character quality that allows us to wait wisely and well is just as hard to  develop as generosity or controlling our tongue or loving the unlovable. Anyone can  perform a selfless act on a one-off basis. That requires only a modicum of self discipline. But to do the selfless thing over and over again — even to train to do so —  is very hard. 

Imagine what it was like for Noah inside the ark as, week after week, he waited for an  indication that the boat could be emptied (you could also imagine 40 days and nights  of all that animal smell and excrement, which I’m sure added a sense of urgency to the  waiting). We’re told that Joseph had to spend two more years in a dungeon while he  waiting for the Pharoah’s cupbearer to remember him before his boss. Moses waited  80 years to find his calling and purpose in life. Saul couldn’t last past seven days of  waiting before he made forbidden sacrifices. David waited for years, as a fugitive,  before God’s plans for him were fulfilled. Israel had been waiting for about 400 years  without a prophetic voice to guide them when angelic visits to Zechariah and Mary  changed the silence into revelation. 

But scripture is unrelenting. “Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”  “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” “Be  still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; do not fret over those who prosper in  their way, over those who carry out evil devices.” “For God alone my soul waits in  

silence; from him comes my salvation.” “I am weary with my crying; my throat is  parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.” “Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’;  wait for the Lord, and he will help you.” The disciples were waiting when the Spirit  came upon them. The creation waits, longing for its redemption.  

How do we learn to wait well? It takes faith. We develop our hope. We practice  patience. We learn to see the bigger picture and live in light of its reality. And every step  in the process involves self-denial, refusing to put ourselves in the place of God. 

But our waiting is worth it! Let’s let Peter, who wasn’t the best at waiting, have the last  word: “But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth,  where righteousness is at home. Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these  things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; …” 

Blessings! 

Doug