Just Waiting
On my family room table sits a digital picture frame that rotates family photos from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sometimes I just stop what I am doing and watch my life and the lives of those whom I love most flash before me.
I love those pictures. My husband, Don, and I shot many of them, and I chose the rest from my parents’ albums. Some make me homesick for those who are no longer with us while others remind me that time is flying by too quickly. I would be hard - pressed to pick out a favorite picture, but there is one that always takes my breath away. I call it “Just Waiting.”
This particular snapshot shows my granddaughter, Ruby, when she was about eight months old. She had crawled to a bedroom door; she could hear her older brother Landon playing on the other side. The door was closed, and since she had not yet learned to knock, she sat there waiting for her playmate/teacher/partner-in-crime to emerge. She did not cry or give up. She just waited.
Just waited? Who today sits and waits for anything? We live in a society that makes fun of people, phones, TVs, or cars that do not do something at the speed of light. I get out of sorts if my hamburger takes too long to emerge from Wendy’s drive-thru window. If the Kroger cashier takes too much time talking to the person in front of me, my blood pressure rises. And if my phone rings while I am driving, I pull into a parking lot to take an all-important call. Waiting is not my thing.
How glad I am that God is not like me! How thankful I am that he loved us enough to wait. He created us and waited for us to love him. He sent people to tell us about him and waited for us to love him. He loved us unconditionally and waited for us to love him. Finally he loved us so much that he sent his son who would show us how to love his heavenly father and each other.
How about Ruby? Did her waiting pay off or was it a big waste of time? I don’t know when Landon came out of the bedroom, nor do I know if he played with her as she so desperately wanted. It didn’t matter. The love she felt for him that day was evident in the picture. And God? Did his waiting pay off? As we celebrate the loveliest of seasons, we should remember how much we are loved. I just hope we were worth it.
This beautiful hymn, written by Charles Wesley, makes a wonderful prayer. Sing it, say it, or think it. God is waiting to hear from you.
Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.
Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.
Amen
Becky Warren
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