Waiting

If any of you are familiar with the classic Princess Bride movie you may recall the scene in which Westley (dressed as Pirate Robinson) is climbing the cliff and Inigo Montoya is waiting above only to kill him.  Inigo asks Pirate Robinson if he could speed things up.  At one point Inigo says "I hate waiting."  He then gets a rope to help Pirate Robinson up, has a respectful and entertaining sword dual, and then Inigo ends up being conked on the head and passes out while Pirate Robinson (Westley) goes to rescue his true love Buttercup.

This makes for a great movie, but we can all relate to Inigo's hate for waiting.  I know I do. 

Last week I was riding in the company vehicle with my co-worker on the way to a luncheon with another office.  On the way we got onto the subject of patience.  He has not decided to have a personal relationship with Christ (yet).  I was encouraging him as he has a way of being very kind and is able to wait for others in a polite manner.  He dubbed himself very patient.  I made the point that true patience is not only politely waiting, but also not complaining about it later.  It got me thinking about my own life and how I need to work on being patient and waiting.  It also caused me to think of how patient God is with us.

There are several passages in the Bible that direct us to wait on the Lord:

(www.biblegateway.com)

Psalm 27:13-14  

English Standard Version (ESV)

¹³ I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!
¹⁴  Wait for the Lord;
     be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Psalm 31:23-24

English Standard Version (ESV)

²³ Love the Lord, all you his saints!
    The Lord preserves the faithful
    but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
²⁴  Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord!

Another passage that is very helpful to give us both our perspective as well as God's on the subject of waiting:

2 Peter 3: 9-18

⁹  The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹²  waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.¹⁴  Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. ¹⁵ And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶ as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

I am not married, but I have often observed a husband and wife interact in a way in which each person thinks they are waiting for the other person.  The man is ready to go so he is sitting quietly in the living room reading the newspaper.  The woman is also "ready to go", but she is still fixing her makeup and cleaning up in the the other room.  You hear a subtle sigh coming out of the living room just loud enough for the wife to hear.  "I'm ready honey,"  she says, "I was just waiting for you!"


Oh how there are so many times in my life where I am waiting for God to answer prayer, to show me His will.  I just sit there and wait, and often make a loud sigh (not subtle at all!), to indicate again that I'm still waiting.  Little do I remember or realize that God is at work getting things ready for the entire world.  And He is also waiting for me!


God waits for me to open his word and see the truth that should penetrate into my soul and my mind.  That I take this truth and meditate on it.  One further, I change my life to align with the truth I receive.


We as believers are all waiting on the Lord in one way or another in our lives.  But we are also waiting for Jesus to return.  To experience a new heaven and a new earth.  To be forever with the Lord!  Come Lord Jesus

Let us look back at the passage here in 2 Peter.  We are not just sitting and waiting for Jesus to return.  No, we have work to do while we are patiently waiting for that glorious day.  Verse 14: "Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace."

Also we are given more instruction while waiting as well as a warning: "There are some things in them (Paul's letters, other scripture) that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity"

So while we are waiting on the Lord, there are other things we can do.  We live our lives in a way that are holy and we are at peace in ourselves and with others.  Also, we need to be careful of those who twist God's word around.  We have to be careful to not be carried away by what others say.  We are to grow as we read the Bible, spend time in prayer, and in fellowship with others that are growing and following Christ.  Knowing that someday we will be in eternity with Christ!  Again, come Lord Jesus come!  And may I be found to be diligent "without spot or blemish, and at peace".