The Waiting Game

As we head towards lent, as Church, we enter a time of waiting where we reflect upon Jesus’ life and prepare for his death (and resurrection!) As I look at the church calendar, it feels like we spend most of our time in periods of waiting. Whether it be Lent, or Advent, or just preparing for the next big Church event or service. It seems slightly appropriate in a nation where we seem unable to avoid forming queues and getting stuck in traffic. But yet how we hate these things. Being forced to be patient seems to be as much etched into our DNA as our hatred for it.

Waiting often feels like wasted time. Time in which you don’t have what you’re waiting for and therefore time in which you are missing out. But these times of waiting in our church life are so important. They help us to take time to remember what has been and take stock of where we are before embracing what is to come. In our Church traditions the waiting is of as much significance as the celebration at the end of it even if the final end is always the objective. No-one goes on a journey for the sake of a journey but to get to the final destination. Except maybe for those going on coach holidays. And canal holidays. And river cruises and road trips…

So, it turns out sometimes the journey is just as important as the final destination. But maybe it shouldn’t just be sometimes, maybe it always is. And maybe not just for holidays and church celebrations, but for all of life. Maybe those times of being stuck in traffic, or waiting for a longed for tv series to come out, or God not answering my prayers as I want straight away are all for my benefit. Building up patience within me, but also to help me appreciate more where I am right now and to prepare me for what will come. Appreciating what I have without the thing I’m waiting for, makes me more able to make the most of what is coming in the future. Often as I wait, I also have no choice but to trust God because there’s nothing I can do myself. And when I learn to trust Him, I find that he is always trustworthy. So may all God’s gifts for you be worth the wait, but may also all God’s waits be worth the gift.

Originally written for the March 2023 ABC Newsletter