Waiting...

I'm not a patient person.

Those of you who know me well would probably say that of the fruits of the spirit, that one is the last on my list.

Now I'm singing the fruits of the spirit song in my head.  Great.

Anyways, I'm talking about patience today because I heard a sermon at Harvest Bible Chapel this past Sunday on waiting.

Apropos in the season of Advent.

Yes, I just looked up the spelling of the word "apropos."

Okay, so the sermon was about Simeon, the guy who was promised by God that he would see the Messiah and then he could die.

Yes, that's kind of morbid, but that's not the point.

Simeon is (presumably) an old man. He is a righteous man, a Jew who goes to the temple frequently.  He (like every other Jewish person) is waiting for the Messiah, the man who will deliver the Jews from Roman rule.  And the Holy Spirit tells him that he would not die until he saw the Messiah.

We don't know how long Simeon waits.  There is a 400 year gap between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament.  Simeon could have been born any time in that 400 years.  We don't get to hear his history.  But the main idea here is that Simeon trusted God, and he waited.  And he probably waited a long time.  He probably checked out every single child that came to the temple until Jesus came.

The pastor asked us how many of us are waiting on God for something, and just about everyone raised their hands, including myself.  The pastor told us that God always keeps his promises, and although waiting is not fun, we're not waiting in vain.

But that got me thinking (a dangerous pastime, I know).

What exactly are we waiting on God for?

The examples that the pastor used in the sermon were getting a job, or finding a spouse, or waiting to heal from a sickness.

And the thing that gets me is God never promised any of those things.

I know what I'm waiting on.  I've been waiting on it for what seems like forever.  I'm waiting for God to give me a husband.  I've wanted to get married for a very long time.  And I'm frustrated that God has not given me a spouse.  And my patience has been stretched thin for a very long time.

But when did God ever promise me a husband?

Answer: never.  God never promised that I would get married.  God never promised that anyone would get married.  Or that anyone would get their dream job.  Or that anyone would be rich.

As far as I know, God only promised two things:
1.)  A Messiah would come to save us from our sins and give us eternal life.
2.)  That same Messiah will come again to rule over heaven and earth.

We can check off number 1.  God did that 2000ish years ago when he sent Jesus.

What we really need to wait for is number 2.  Jesus promised he would come again.  And he will come again.

I don't think it's wrong to wait for God to give us other things.  I'm still going to wait on God to give me a husband.  But I'm giving up on the idea that because I want it, I will have it.  It may not happen.  Other people may never get a job, or be healed from any of their diseases.

God gave us Jesus, that we may have eternal life in heaven.  Can we just think about eternal life for a second?  The key word here is "eternal."  I can't wrap my brain around that.  Our lives here on earth are just a blip on the radar of eternal. We get so enmeshed in thinking about our earthly lives that they become SO important.  Making money and marrying Mr./Mrs. Right, these things don't matter because they don't last.

You know what lasts?  Jesus.

Put your hope in that.  And wait on his return.