What is the worst thing you have had to wait for? That baby to arrive? A special day to roll around? Your meal from the kitchen when you are ravenously hungry? The toilet to be free? The sermon/meeting/church service/conversation to finish? The car ahead of you to move at the green light? Those test results? Your coffee to come? The next tv episode or book to be released in a series?

I am not a huge fan of waiting. It feels to me like time wasted or that I am marking time and not getting anywhere. Almost everything in our society seems to be geared towards reducing our waiting time for things. We can prepare and heat our food faster than our parents or grandparents, we can send communication instantaneously, turn on devices with a remote control instantly, make instant coffee, instant noodles, instant gravy (although these do mean waiting for that kettle to boil!), instant, instant, instant!

Spare a thought for those poor souls who are born on February 29th who have a lifetime of waiting ahead of them. The actual day set aside for them to celebrate their birth only comes around once every four years! The only advantage that I can see to this arrangement is the fact that while their friends from school are celebrating their 40th birthday, they will be 10 years old!

Tossing these thoughts around about having to wait is causing me to wonder why it is that we don’t like to wait. Is it about believing that our time is so very precious because we are so very busy? Or that we are actually way too important to wait? Or simply that we have a level of impatience built in to us from the start? (Ever been asked “Are we there yet?”)

When I consider some of the examples mentioned earlier, what would happen if the waiting time was cut? Babies born too early are at risk medically. Eating a meal before it is properly cooked can cause serious illness. The car ahead of you may be waiting for a hazard to pass before moving off. Rushed test results do not always give a complete picture. Perhaps there is value in waiting after all.

Things happen, usually, at the right time and sometimes we can see that clearly at the end of our time of waiting. There are a number of verses in the Bible that remind that there is a time for everything under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 3) The verse I am reflecting on at the moment, however, reminds me of God’s perfect timing for the life of his own son. Romans chapter 5, verse 6 tells me, “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” (New Living Translation) … Something for me to reflect on while I wait for my coffee to arrive!

Be blessed!