Is God worth waiting for? This is my question this advent. In a world where we hate to wait and where waiting often seems to be a waste of time, particularly for those of us who are leaders and like to make things happen, why wait? Why wait on God? Especially when He seems to take so long to answer or show up when we are busy and need to move on to important things! Why wait to fully experience His presence when a little bit will do? This is not what we often say but I know itโs sometimes how I think and act.
Being in Godโs presence takes time. Knowing him takes time. He makes us wait on purpose and that seems unfair! Iโm waiting to see my D.Min thesis birthed into reality and personally I am tired of waiting. Iโm tired of working on it, but I still hear God calling me to wait on him and with him. I keep telling him time is quickly evaporating, but the call is still to wait ready to receive. So Iโm going on retreat. I am going to intentionally wait and watch! And I am going with big expectations!
What are you waiting on God for? Or how is He inviting you to wait on Him or with Him? What is He calling you to, or to walk through that can only be accomplished through waiting on Him.
Will you wait? And the nagging question, is He worth waiting for anyway?
I get a negative attitude about waiting when my soul is hurried and needs to find rest in God. It is when I need to find my centre in Him once again that my frustration level is highest.
What if the gift we seek is in the waiting? What if it is in the waiting we find healing? What if it is in the waiting we are strengthened? What if it is in the waiting that His power is released in us and through us? What if it is in the waiting we come face to face with God and ourselves? Is it worth waiting for? Is God worth waiting for?
Iโm realizing that if I truly want God then I am going to have to wait for Him and with Him. We wait in line at Tim Hortons or Starbucks for that satisfying treat or next fix. We wait to watch our favorite show, to see special people, to get that great bargain. Why not wait for God? He is worth waiting for!
The following is an excerpt from โAdvent โ An Invitation to Wait on Godโ:
โO that you would tear open the heavens and come down!โโIsaiah 64:1
โWaiting is one of Godโs immensely sweeping invitations. To wait expectantly and with open hands requires a relinquishment of control that gets at the roots of our motivations, fears and idols. It is where we learn that God isnโt a genie; and happiness is not a matter of God meeting our expectations. While we wait, we sense the naked vulnerability of trust. No matter how disciplined, organized and prayerful we get, we never outgrow Godโs invitation to wait. The learning curve is lifelong.
(Excerpt by Rev. Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, 11/24/2014 http://www.transformingcenter.org/2014/11/advent-invitation-wait-god/
A central theme in the Advent story is waiting. God the Father and all of heaven waits for Jesus to be born. All the earth is waiting for God to show up. And even Jesus waits to be born.
What if Jesus refused to wait to be our Saviour?
This Advent I am proclaiming
โMy God is worth waiting for and
I am waiting on Him and before Him!โ
Will you join me in this proclamation?
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Reflection:
Take a moment to read this passage from Psalm 62 and pray with the Psalmist in a spirit of waiting and anticipation of our Godโwho is worth waiting for.
Psalm 62: 1-2, 5-8 New Living Translation (NLT)
1 I wait quietly before God,
for my victory comes from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress where I will never be shaken.
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5 Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.
7 My victory and honor come from God alone.
He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
8 O my people, trust in him at all times.
Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Interlude
How will you proclaim our God is worth waiting for?
