Who Are You Waiting For?

“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my fortress where I will never be shaken.” (Psalm 62:1-2 NLT)

Among the most frustrating occurrences in a person’s life is to wait for someone who doesn’t show up. A few years ago I went to a doctor’s appointment, checked in, then sat down to wait. There was no one else in the waiting room, so I wondered what was taking him so long to see me. Finally, I went back up to the window, to the same young woman who had checked me in, and asked her if she had any idea how much longer the doctor would be.

In a very “matter-of-fact” way she said: “Oh, he won’t be coming into the office today.” Why couldn’t she have called me so I wouldn’t have had to make the trip to his office? Or, at least, tell me when I first came in, so I didn’t waste time waiting for someone who wasn’t coming?

Human beings aren’t born with the gift of “waiting.” As a rule, our patience quota is very small, yet uncharacteristically, we seem very willing to wait to make things right with the Lord. I’ve often spoken with people whose life was a mess, a mess only the Lord could enable them to resolve, but rather than joyfully embrace the clear answer, and open themselves to the Lordship of Jesus, they chose to remain miserably unchanged.

They seem bent on waiting until things in their life improve, seeming oblivious to the fact that apart from Jesus any improvement will only be temporary. Like me in the doctor’s office, they’re waiting for someone who isn’t coming.

Who are you waiting for to make your life better? Someone to offer you a dream job? A person to fulfill your dreams of marriage? A child? A family member or friend who has hurt you, to apologize? Whomever you’re waiting for, even if they show up, and even if that piece of your life is made whole in your mind, at best, it’s temporary.

Nothing this world can give us has the capacity to satisfy our deepest longings. Everything we can see, hear, taste, touch, or smell is temporary and will one day be gone. Only Jesus offers forgiveness and freedom from the penalty of sin we deserve; only Jesus offers us eternal life that begins the moment we yield our life and allegiance to Him; only Jesus opens the doorway to heaven where we’ll finally find everything we’ve ever hoped for and more. Only Jesus!

Sometimes, even as believers, we’re frustrated and disappointed by the Lord’s “slowness” in answering prayer or resolving an issue with which we wrestle. Rarely, if ever, do we stop to consider the issue we’re having is a gift from God allowed by Him to conform us more perfectly to His Son’s righteous image.

The longer I live and love Jesus, the better I’m understanding Paul’s dilemma with which he shared in Philippians 1: “I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.” Serving soothes the “pain” of waiting for Jesus’ return.

So, for me, and I trust for you, the troubles and trials of life are made more bearable in light of the presence of God’s Spirit as He walks with us through them, and the hope of eternal life with Jesus when this life comes to an end. Either way, Jesus is Who I’m waiting for! How about you?

Blessings, Ed 😊