Waiting…

During the month of November, I started with the events of my life and pointed out where God showed up. During December, I want to start with God and then find out where I show up. Here is Day 1 of my Christmas chiasma.

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And it will be said in that day,
“Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited… Isaiah 25:9 Amplified Bible (AMP)

I admit it. I’d rather not have to wait. I have skipped meals when the cafeteria line was too long. I have rattled and poked beautifully wrapped packages because I’m too impatient to wait until it is time to open them. I have paid exorbitant rates for expedited shipping just so I wouldn't have to wait a few extra days to begin reading a book.

No one likes to wait, but it is part of life. Sometimes we do it begrudgingly—because we have not other choice. If we are miserable, the wait seems longer. If we are inconvenienced, we become irate.

At other times, we wait with expectation and anticipation. December is a month of waiting. twenty-five days of eager anticipation as decorations, baked goodies and brightly wrapped packages beckon us and hold us at arms length simultaneously.

As God’s children, we are called to wait on him. There are times when the waiting seems interminable, when the pain we are suffering is too great to bear and when our cries for mercy seem unmet. And yet we wait…because we have no other reasonable choice and because we know he will deliver.

It is easier to wait on a God who has a proven track record of meeting our needs, a God who has shown up time and again proving he is able to accomplish what he had planned to do. Even when we are impatient for results, it is easier to wait on a God with whom we have a shared intimacy, a God who has demonstrated he loves and cares for us.

At this time of the year, as I am waiting for Christmas and the family who will come home, I am reminded of the ancient Hebrews who waited on God to deliver them from the Egyptians, from the desert, from the Babylonians and from the Romans. They waited on him for the Messiah, the one who would deliver them from their sin.

Often when we wait, we are looking for relief from suffering more than for the face of the God who would save us. But when he comes, and when we recognize his face, the waiting seems trivial by comparison. How blessed we are when we can say ‘this is our God,’ for it shows the deep family connection. When we see him, we are glad we waited. We are glad we didn't settle for a lesser God, or take matters into our own hands. His salvation, and his alone, is worth waiting for.

Where am I waiting this week for God to show up? Lord, teach me to wait with expectation and anticipation.