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May 26, 2024 06:00am

You’re In Good Company

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“In just two weeks we’ll head to the beach,” I told my 5-year-old granddaughter. She jumped up and proclaimed, “Just two sleeps!” She was disappointed to learn she heard me wrong and that it was two weeks away and not two nights of sleep. To a young child, two weeks of waiting feel like forever. Later that day she wanted me to play with her outside. I was cooking so I told her she would have to be patient. Once again, she was disappointed. This time I took the opportunity for a teaching moment. “Sweetheart, being patient doesn’t just mean to wait, but to wait with the right attitude.” Later as I pushed her on the swing I thought about that statement. How many times do I approach waiting with the wrong attitude?

What are you waiting on? Perhaps you are waiting on a job or a particular door to open. Maybe you are waiting for God to answer a prayer you’ve been praying for years. It could be that you are going through a hardship in your marriage, with your children, or even your health and you keep waiting on God to step in. Maybe you are waiting for a spiritual revival, the salvation of a loved one, or for a mighty work to be done in your church. Perhaps you are facing persecution and you’re waiting for deliverance. If you are waiting, know that you are in good company.

You cannot read the Bible without seeing all accounts of men and women who had to wait on God. The woman with the issue of blood waited for 12 long, painful years to touch the hem of Jesus. For 38 years the man at the pool of Bethesda waited to walk. In John chapter 9 we see a man who was born blind. He waited his entire life to be able to see. Waiting when you are sick is hard. Waiting while going through other difficulties is just as hard. Job waited completely destitute in sackcloth and ashes. Joseph, betrayed by his brothers and falsely accused, waited in prison. Moses, fleeing as a murderer, waited for 40 years in the desert. During trials, we often ask, “Why?” Sometimes, God answers like He did with Job. Other times we simply must trust.

Maybe it’s not a sickness or trial you are waiting through. It could be that you’re waiting on a promise from God’s Word. Consider how many heroes of the faith had to wait on God to see His promises fulfilled. Noah waited for 120 years to see God’s promise that He would send rain and destroy the earth. Abraham and Sarah waited for the impossibility of a promised son. David was a young boy when he was anointed of God and promised the kingship. Yet, he had to wait until he was 30 to become king. Simeon waited faithfully because he was promised that he would see the Messiah before he died. The Apostles had to wait until the Day of Pentecost for the promised empowering of the Holy Spirit. Paul was promised that he would be a chosen vessel unto God and would bear His name “before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel,” (Acts 9:15). But, he had to wait 3 years in Arabia before beginning his ministry.

God is never in a hurry. He doesn’t worry over days or seasons. He sits outside of time and sees the beginning to the end. Knowing this, we can wait with the right attitude – one that has our eyes heavenward, and hearts turned toward God. We can wait humbly with the attitude of Christ and count it all joy, knowing that the trying of our faith produces patience and works in our lives for good (James 1:3-4). We must let patience have its perfect work by teaching us total dependence upon God. If you are waiting you are in good company. Like the Apostles who waited for the filling of the Holy Spirit, we too must be emptied before we are filled. Like Noah who worked while waiting, we too must be diligent to work in the service of our Lord. Like Simeon who saw the Messiah, we too should wait with eager anticipation for the return of Christ.

Waiting is part of living; may we all learn to do it with the right attitude.