Purpose in the Waiting

As you well know, it's that time of year again!  Time for family gatherings and celebrations.  Time for busy malls and holiday deals.  Time for decorating and gifts.  Time for recognition and celebration of our Savior's birth into this world.  While contemplating this time of year, something seemed to click today.  It simply BLOWS MY MIND that Jesus would leave all His splendor in heaven to bind His infinite being in the form of a helpless baby.  A baby!  The most helpless and dependent of creation!  He came to grow up with His people.  To LIVE among us!  He could have come as a man.  He could have made a way to not have to come at all.  BUT, He chose to come.  He chose to leave glory behind.  He chose to be born into our world as a baby and grow for 30 years into a man before He began His service ministry.  ...that's what hit me.  He WAITED for 30 YEARS to learn and grow and mature as a human before He began His ministry to the masses.  And what was He waiting for?  What did He come for?  To teach for 3 short years and to DIE.  He was waiting to die.  To SAVE us from our sin!  To provide the ONLY way to the Father.  He waited until the time was right...until God's timetable told him to move forward.  Could He have stood that first night of His birth and preached to the shepherds, wise men, and His parents?  OF COURSE!  He was still FULLY God!  But, He waited.  He spent time with the people of earth experiencing all the things of life that we experience.  Making relationships.  Learning to walk and talk and read and write.  Falling down and scraping His knees.  Running to His mother when His brothers wouldn't share.  He struggled with our same emotions and faced our same trials...with one HUGE difference...He NEVER sinned.  He NEVER complained.  He NEVER gave up.

I am facing a season of waiting.  So far, this season has lasted 4 1/2 years...How long will my waiting last?  And there it is...Christ waited 33 years to fulfill God's plan for His life and never once complained or got mad at God or questioned His purpose...He just trusted the Father and followed the plan...  what do I have to complain about?  Jesus came to reveal the things of God. In His waiting, Jesus revealed that even the waiting has purpose.

Even the Waiting has Purpose.

Waiting can be hard.  Waiting can be torture.  Waiting can be annoying.  BUT, at the end of the waiting come RELIEF!  AND, the LONGER the wait, the BETTER the blessing.  I truly believe that!  Think about it.  The longer you wait for something, the anticipation grows and grows and the poof!  You get what you've been waiting for and it proves to be MORE that you ever imagined!  Praise God for waiting.  As I seek to draw nearer to Christ, to become more like Him, I will seek to embrace my wait and look forward to the end with anticipation and joy...NOT with complaining and a sour spirit.

May God bless your wait with more that you can ask or imagine!  May God grant you the peace of knowing in your heart and mind that there is purpose in all of it, even in the waiting.  May God grant you rest from worry, fear, doubt, and may He strengthen your faith and belief that He is who He says He is and that He can do what He says He can do!