Waiting.

Waiting. 

We wait for a lot of things in our life. We wait for food to come.  We wait for our coffee beverage at the local cafe. We wait for our car to be done in the shop.  We wait for Jesus to come, and for Him to come again. 

In advent especially, we are reminded of how the Israelites waited for their Messiah, culminating with Christmas and the birth of their Savior in unexpected form.

But our waiting is not in vain. 

Our culture has become really good at distraction in times of waiting. Children watch movies or play games on road trip or long flights. Teenagers often times put in their headphones and tune out the world. Adults go on their iphones or ipads and play games, check facebook, email, stocks etc...and of course we all can’t help but sleep sometimes when we are waiting. 

We have to find something to distract ourselves with. Something to make the time go faster. But sometimes our distractions draw us away so much we forget what we’re waiting for. We sleep right through our bus stop! Whoops...

I think everyone is in a season of waiting for something. Whether big or small, we all wait. 

But our waiting is not in vain. 

And it seems so simple to me now, but I’m realizing that we wait not just for the sake of waiting but because what we are waiting for is not ready. Our waiter could bring our food out in 5 minutes but it would still be frozen. Our barista could give us our drinks immediately but it would be cold milk and instant coffee, which would be simply atrocious, really. Get my point?

So here is what I’m proposing. At least for myself. In our waiting, may we seek preparedness. In words, action, and sabbath, may we seek to be prepared as we possibly can be for the object of our waiting. May we not be so consumed with our distractions that we miss our mark. May we be mindful that whatever it is we are waiting for is being prepared as well. Whether it be a house, a job, a person, food, or creation. God is at work preparing as well. 

I had a lesson in preparedness today. Last week, I was asked to read scripture for the service today. I didn’t write it down. I didn’t do anything to help me remember. I wouldn’t forget, or so I thought. A week went by.  So we’re sitting in the pews, singing Christmas hymns. Prayer times goes by, offering time goes by, now it’s time for the sermon. I’m looking at the pastor speaking this morning, he’s looking back at the other pastor in the sound booth, and then I realize...I have to do the scripture reading! Shoot! I don’t even know what the passages were! Something in Malachi? About 10 uncomfortable seconds go by as a scramble through the pages of the Bible, until a man behind me hands me a bible opened up to the scripture reading that I was supposed to read: Mark 1:1-8. It’s all about John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus. 

So much for me being prepared...haha

May we all pursue preparation in our waiting, so as not to miss what we are waiting for.