What are you waiting for?

As of this writing, we are in Boise waiting hour by hour for the arrival of our third grandson who is several days past due.  Waiting that is not anxious requires persistence, patience and a calm spirit.

I suspect we are all waiting for something.  Some things we may be waiting for are: being reconnected physically with loved ones, a birthday, a wedding, an anniversary, a memorial service, the opportunity to travel again, a recovery from illness, a good night’s sleep, a new job, retirement, an election, more justice, overcoming the pandemic, more peace and harmony in our country and the world, and the answer to a long unanswered prayer.  I don’t know what you are waiting for, but I do know that waiting can at times be very hard.

Scripture encourages us in our waiting:

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
     they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
     they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

Sometimes our waiting is connected to our wanting.  Here’s what was found in the margin of an elderly woman’s Bible after she died at the age of 97.  These words were scribbled next to one of the Psalms: “Wait upon the Lord and He’ll fix your wanter.”

As we mature in faith, a big part of the goal is to get our “wanter” aligned with God’s “wanter” and not the other way around.  Waiting is a significant part of our human condition and the more at peace we are with it, the more at peace we can be with others, with God, and even ourselves.  I need to be reminded of this from time to time and this thought from Johann Christoph Blumhardt is especially helpful.

I beg you, wait for God quietly, and don’t be so religious. To have nothing to show for yourself and to wait for God is better than to be polishing your piety. You shall not become godless by waiting for God. On the contrary, the truth of God’s cause will grow in your heart, and that is all that matters. A true word once in ten years is dearer to God than a daily sermon. It is your genuineness that matters.  A single genuine moment has much greater consequences in God’s kingdom than a thousand religious practices.

As we endure this strange season of waiting during this difficult year of 2020, may you be blessed with something so genuine it will surely be a gift and blessing from God.

Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister