Waiting...and Waiting...

Nobody likes to wait.  Look at our society, and probably your life, and you know that statement is true.  We have microwaves, fast-food, instant rice, and many more time saving things.  There are few people above the age of 12 that don't have a cell phone, many of which are "smart" phones.  Does anyone really NEED a cell phone, especially one with the capability to check email, immediately post on Facebook and play games whenever we want?  Sure people always cite examples of "what if my car breaks down" or "what if there is an emergency and I have to get a hold of________".  How many times have you actually had either of those things happen?  We have cell phones (and many other time saving devices) ultimately because we want things now, we want convenience.

This is a problem in the church as well.  We want to go to church and get a quick fix to help our marriage or our finances.  We want our weekly "dose of the ghost" rather than truly seeking God and following Him daily.  I am generalizing with these comments but I think you get the point, we are not good at waiting.

I recently had the opportunity to spend a few days with friends of mine who have been waiting.  Almost exactly a year ago they were offered a position in India which they excitedly accepted.  The problem is, they are still in the states waiting to get into the country.  I too am waiting.  My wife and I started the process of adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia in January of 2011 and were officially put on a referral waiting list about one year ago.  We are still waiting and now at a point where we will need to start renewing much of our paperwork.  My friends have no idea how long their wait will be, it could be over next week or next year.  My wait is slightly more predictable but will likely be at least another year or more.

Obviously there is a huge difference between waiting in traffic or waiting for God's call to move to India or to adopt to be finalized, but, we are all waiting for something.  What do you do in your waiting?  Do you grumble and complain and dismiss God as too slow?  Or, do you seek Him, rest in Him and trust that His timing will be perfect?  I would like to say that I mostly do the latter of those options, heck, I would like to say that I was 50/50. 

As we come to the first week of advent this Sunday and as I think of waiting for my son's adoption or my friends' waiting to move to India, I can't help but but also think about Jesus' second coming.  That's what advent is after all, the anticipation, the waiting for Jesus' return.  So as you wait for whatever you are waiting for, consider what advent reminds us of; hope, love, joy and peace.  We can only partially experience those things now but someday, we can fully experience all of those things through the death, resurrection and return of Jesus Christ.  Waiting is hard, but if there were ever anything worth waiting for, that would be it!