Worth the Wait

"The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment."  Luke 23:55-56

 

 

One of the most difficult aspects of life is waiting. Waiting for someone to leave or waiting on someone to show up. Waiting in line at the store. Waiting for a file to download. Waiting for a call. Waiting for the diagnosis. We are, as a people, generally impatient. We do not like waiting. Actually, we mostly hate it, because we want things instantly. I tell my children that patience is a virtue, yet they do not see me demonstrating it as often as I would like. (OK, hardly at all, but I will keep reminding them of the truth.)

In the same way, one of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is waiting on God. We expect instant results in our spiritual lives. We pray, "Lord, give me patience and give it to me now." We desire our sanctification quickly. We read His promises and expect instant fulfillment. We sense a word of direction from Him and jump ahead before receiving the wisdom for the next step. We just want the pain to go away, or we just want the problem to be fixed, or we just want to do things our way. Whatever the situation, often in our impetuousness, we miss out on all He wants to do in and through us during the waiting time.

 

A few years ago, when I read these verses noted above, I actually had the thought that if it had been me, I would not have waited for the Sabbath to be over. I thought that in my zeal for the One I loved, I would have just gone to anoint the body anyway. "Forget the Sabbath. Jesus has just been buried. We need to go anoint Him." Then the Lord quiety reminded me that if it had been me, and if I had done that, then I would have missed the resurrection. Missed it!  On Saturday (the Sabbath), His physical body would have still been in the tomb, and I would have missed God's perfect timing!

 

But, not these women.They waited.They waited through the darkness.They waited through the confusion.They waited through the sorrow and the fear and the doubt. It says that they rested. Then on Sunday morning, when the time God had allotted for waiting was over, they were the first to witness an empty tomb. And, they were never the same.

 

I have had to wait on the Lord through a very difficult time before. I cannot say that I enjoyed the process, but I can now say that I am thankful for how God worked in my life during the waiting time. He taught me things I could have never learned in an instant world. I know now that I do not ever want to miss out on what He has for me, even if I must wait for it. Be encouraged today dear friend if you are in your waiting time. Rest in faith. While you are waiting, God is working, and the result may just be that you see His glory and are never the same.