From my younger years, I have (fading) memories of waking up early in the morning, my stomach muscles knotted in anxiety waiting for that day’s dental appointment to be over with (dentistry has improved immensely, and painlessly, since then, Praise God!) Another source of early morning anxiety was gym day at school when we played basketball. Not being athletic, my sole moment of ‘fame,’ accompanied by the din of loud cheering, was a rare breakaway. Turned out, the ‘cheering’ was from the opposite team as I was headed straight for my own basket! (sigh). But not all pre-dawn stirrings were dread-filled. The other, and probably most difficult to endure, was the one on Christmas morning. We kids had been warned not to get up until Mum gave the signal, but that three-hour wait? sheer agony!
Waiting in line (or in a queue), waiting for an answer, waiting for a call, a text, an email, (or on one of the many other apps at our disposal), is problematic for the most patient among us. It’s likely truer in our day than ever as so much of our existence has become a demand for the instantaneous. Complaining about wait time, though, is solidly a first world whine.
Jesus taught regularly about the Kingdom, that it was near, it was coming, and it was within. For his disciples, the anticipation was that the Kingdom would soon banish Rome from their borders and restore peace and holiness. Luke 9:27 has Jesus saying that some in the crowd would not die until they witnessed the presence and the power of the Kingdom. Immediately following is the passage where Jesus invited Peter, James and John to climb a high mountain with him. And there, before their eyes, he was radiantly displayed in all his glory and visited by Moses and Elijah! Later, Peter wrote: ‘we saw his magnificence and splendor unveiled before our very eyes.’ 2 Peter 1:16b, TPT. And later still, John wrote: ‘ . . . the Living Expression became a man and lived among us! And we gazed upon the splendor of his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father overflowing with tender mercy and truth!’ John 1:14, TPT.
The wait is 2 000 years so far and we are still waiting, still believing, still trusting. God’s timing is perfect, just unrestricted by our Chronos time. His is Kairos time, absolute perfection. Here’s Habakkuk 2:1-3, NLT: ‘I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others. This vision is for a future time, it describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.’
Looking forward to seeing all you ‘patient waiters’ tomorrow 10 AM, 3 PM FR/UK. PD