Acts 1:4-5, And whilst staying with them [Jesus] ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, He said, “you heard from Me; for John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Waiting is one of my least favourite things, but I have grown quite good at it and have learnt great patience. Whether it’s waiting in line at the DMV or post office, a traffic light, a lunch line, the security line at the airport, I hate waiting. I even avoid cooking because it requires a lot of waiting; the microwave shall suffice! Yet thanks to the Army’s infamous “hurry up and wait,” I am a professional waiter.
What kind of waiting fills your Advent this year? The end of the semester? Hearing from the doctor? Seeing the love of your life? Opening presents? All these will come in their prescribed timing.
What kind of waiting fills your waiting for the promise? That is, the promise of Jesus’ Second Advent?
I may be a professional waiter, but at times I grow impatient. As the evils of the world and my own suffering rage on, my spirit aches for the Second Advent of Christ. I am seldom too slow to pray, “Come, Lord Jesus!” Yet this, too, shall come at its prescribed timing, unknown to us.
Whilst I had to “hurry up and wait” in the Army, that is not the case here. I am already in Christ; I do not need to hurry anything. All I need to do is wait.
The same is true for you. There is a lot of rushing around during this holiday season. What are you in a hurry for? It will come. Take time to slow down and recall the promise to come. You, too, may be impatient with this, but Jesus will come.
The Lutheran Column 