THE WAITING GAME

Spring is a time of waiting - for warmer temperatures, leaf-filled trees and grassy lawns.  Since Jesus' ascension, Christians have been waiting for His promised return.  The early believers thought that would take place in their lifetimes.  But here we are, almost 2,000 years later, and we are still awaiting Christ's return.

Most of us have difficulty being patient and waiting in our personal lives.  The Bible has numerous examples of individuals who waited for the fulfillment of God's promises:

▪  Sarah and Abram waited twenty-five years for God's promised child, Isaac, to be born.
▪  After being called to liberate Israel from Egyptian bondage, Moses spent the next forty years in the desert herding sheep, waiting for the revelation that it was time for him to act.
▪  As a young man, David was anointed to be King, but he had to wait until middle age before God's promise was fulfilled.
▪  The prophet Isaiah saw the coming Servant of the Lord who would achieve God's purposes through redemptive suffering.  But six hundred years passed before that suffering Servant appeared.

This type of waiting seems extraordinary.  We don't like to wait in lines or at stop lights; we like to continually move towards our destination.  The writer of James says: "My friends, be patient until the Lord returns.  Think of farmers who wait patiently for the spring and summer rains to make their valuable crops grow.  Be patient like those farmers and don't give up." (James 5:7-8a CEV).

Fanny Crosby, the beloved hymn writer, proclaimed: "Perfect submission, all is at rest.  I in my Savior am happy and blest.  Watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love."  As we go about our daily lives, may we have the patience to watch and wait, doing the Lord's work until He comes, remembering His final words to His followers: "You don't need to know the time of [coming] events that only the Father controls.  But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power.  Then you will tell everyone about me." (Acts 1:7-8 CEV).  May our lives be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led as we await the coming of the Lord!

Pastor Martha Dominy