Wednesday, March 14, 2018 

“But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.” (Romans 8:25, New Living Bible)

                Dang, waiting is so hard. I am not very good at waiting.

                Right now, we are waiting for our fourth grandson to be born. He is a week overdue, not that he has a calendar to consult to keep him on schedule.  Between the Soble gene for stubbornness  and the Neal gene (from his grandmother’s side) for being late he will come when he is good and ready. But, thankfully, they have begun the process to speed things along. If he is anything like his father he will have forgotten something and need to go back for it!

                But waiting is not one of my strengths.  I am sure that Nate and especially Krista are even more eager for the little one to arrive.

                So sooner would be better than later! But that is up to #4 grandson.

                Waiting is a recurring Biblical theme. It seems to be a virtue among the faithful people of God.

                “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14)

Even so, it can feel sometimes that God takes his own sweet time about doing what he is going to do. Even the most faithful person can lose patience, show frustration, become anxious, lose hope, and worry about the future. “How long,” says the Psalmist, “will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?” (Psalm 13:1) “How long, O Lord, will you look on and do nothing?” (Psalm 35:17) “O Lord, how long will this go on? Will you hide yourself forever?” (Psalm 89:46) “How long must I wait?” (Psalm 119:  84)

Yoo-hoo, Lord, I am over here. Time’s a-ticking.  I’m still waiting…

I am sure that someone has said to you, anything worthwhile is worth waiting for.  Perhaps, this seems to arise from what Paul is saying in Romans.  My understanding is that Paul is referring specifically to waiting for Jesus to finish what he had started, and once and for all bring about a whole, new Creation from heaven to earth (the Kingdom of God project). Just about all his references to the need for waiting seem to have this in mind.

It is not, I believe, just a passive waiting though, not twiddling our thumbs, checking our watches, sitting idly by and waiting for God.

Jesus tells the story about the need for watchfulness, preparedness, readiness, and being good stewards of the time that is spent in waiting. We continue to be of service for the Master. “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward.” (Luke 12:42 -43)

In other words, time is not to be wasted, even  under trying or challenging circumstances – when we are waiting for the future to unwind and take hold and we hope for the better and not the worse.  This is not only true on a sacred cosmic level but even in our own personal times of waiting, enduring, dealing with continuances and extensions of life’s circumstances.

Waiting can be a time for praying, for doing good works, for exercising one’s love and grace towards others, for receiving love and grace from others, for seeking counsel, for careful self-assessment and soul nurturing. Waiting can be even be life-changing as one discovers fresh, creative, imaginative, hidden capacities to stand tall, reach for new life, and find strength to keep it all together.

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.” (Psalm 62:5) 

Dale