God With UsSample

God With Us in the Waiting

Wait. 

How do you like that word? Hold on a moment. Just a second. Be with you in a minute. I’ll be right back. Feeling antsy yet? Notice all of our euphemisms for waiting include some kind of effort to make you believe the amount of time you have to wait will actually be very small? We just love to belittle waiting. 

What are you waiting for? Have you ever been asked that? Do you ever wonder what you’re not waiting for? If you’re in school, you’re waiting for the bell to ring, or summer, or graduation. If you’re dating, hopefully you’re waiting on marriage for sex. If you’re married, maybe you’re waiting to have kids. If you have kids, maybe you’re waiting for them to talk, walk, go to school, get home from school, finish dinner, and finally go to bed! 

Maybe you’re still trying to have kids. Maybe you’re waiting on a diagnosis. Waiting on a promotion. Waiting for some kind of break. Waiting tables on the side to make ends meet. 

What if we shouldn’t belittle waiting? What if there’s holy power in waiting? What if waiting is not what we do while we grow, but it’s the soil God uses so we grow.

Think about Joseph. He was pledged to be married. We know from Scripture he was honoring Mary and God by waiting on marriage to consummate the relationship with sex. We also know that after the angel told Joseph his virgin fiancée was pregnant with Jesus, that Joseph took Mary as his wife. But get this: Scripture says Joseph kept waiting until after Jesus was born to consummate the marriage with sex. 

Was God with Mary in the waiting? Yes. He was literally inside of her everywhere she went for nine months. Think Mary still felt like she was waiting? If you’re unsure, ask the next pregnant woman you see, “What are you waiting for?” Mary’s proof God’s not only with us in the waiting, He is growing something powerful in us through the waiting. 

Was God with Joseph in all his waiting? Yes. While God grew Jesus in Mary, He grew faithfulness, persistence, and hope in Joseph. Was all his waiting worth it? Well, Scripture mentions at least four siblings of Jesus. So there’s that. But seriously, He got to raise up the Savior of the world! 

What are you waiting for? How can you stop belittling waiting? What’s God growing in you because you’re waiting?

Pray: God, help me to change the way I wait. It’s my honor to wait on You as You grow faithfulness, persistence, and hope in me. Amen. 

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