The Waiting Game

The Waiting Game!
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4-5

This evening the thoughts that keep going through my mind are many but they all have one theme in common – Wait, wait, and wait some more! For many months now we have been waiting for spring, (I think it might almost be here.) My youngest daughter and son-in-law are working toward and waiting for the opportunity to adopt their first child. My son and daughter-in-law are waiting for the birth of their 8th child. My oldest grandson is waiting for my visit later this summer. And I, I am waiting for a pastoral call.
In a society that thrives on “instant” gratification, waiting seems almost unbearable. We no longer wait weeks for answers to our correspondence with the advent of e-mail. In fact, if we write a note to someone using e-mail and do not receive a message back with in six hours, we tend to feel snubbed. I have to ask myself in the light of the society that I function in the question, “What is the value in waiting?”
Try to imagine what ones life would be like if there was no such thing as “waiting.” From the time you were born till the day you pass beyond this life, all the experiences that you would have, would be continuous, with no breaks, no time for reflection upon the experience – its merits, its lessons, its joys or its pains. How would you know the value of what you have lived? For it is in waiting that we do the tasks of examining, the tasks of setting value and judgment on an experience; of experiencing the anticipation that comes with waiting. For much of the value we put on an event or experience comes from the anticipation.
I think about a couple who become engaged to be married. There is usually a period of waiting, of making preparations for the wedding. One experiences the planning of the wedding, the picking out the invitations, of choosing the colors of the wedding, finding the right wedding dress, sometimes writing your own vows, but certainly thinking about the seriousness of the commitment that is going to be made to your beloved. Then comes the day of the wedding. The event, the words spoken, the commitment pledged holds it power, its worth, it’s meaning by all of the preparation that preceded it.
So it is when Jesus was telling his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for what God had in store for them. For it would be by the power and nurture of the Holy Spirit that would give the Disciples understanding and vision of their 3 years with their teacher and savior, Jesus. During this time of waiting for a call as pastor, I have to remind myself that it is in God’s timing the things that are to be will be. Joyce Landorff, an author of the 70’s and early 80’s once address waiting as the time when God takes the raw ore and refines it to the precious medal that it is. We all are precious metals; some of us just need more refining than others it seems. Susan Boyle is my patron saint this week. As she has waited for decades, caring for her parents before she was able to present herself on British television and start living her dream of being a professional singer. We of the world are now blessed with a most beautiful voice. A voice that has been molded over the years with her waiting for “her” time.
“….but to wait for the Promise of God…” this is the true battle cry for a world that is in such a hurry to get on with it, to get things done, to have the experience. Wait, for it is in waiting that we find the depth of what we are looking to experience. Amen