Waiting

I don’t know anyone who likes to wait? Whether we are standing in line to make a purchase, to enter a sporting event or to ride a ride at an amusement park, nobody likes the waiting part. When my kids were younger, we stood in what appeared to be an endless line to ride the Kali River Rapids at Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom. When we finally boarded the ride, we had waited for over 2 hours and we were hot, bored and mad. The ride lasted less than five minutes and was definitely not worth the wait. We have since learned our lesson that to avoid the lines at Disney, the trick is to purchase a “fast pass” which allows you to make ride reservations to reduce the wait. If we could only buy fast passes for life.

I believe it’s true that good things come to those who wait and that patience is a virtue. Yet, if we could jump to the front of the line we surely would and skip our need to develop and grow patience. Yet all good things take time, and the finest and most valuable things take the most time, like the finest of wine and most precious gold. Similarly, wealth is grown carefully over time and it takes years to grow and to mature. Though some try to get a fast pass to wealth through scams, schemes, and crime, there is no other path to wealth than hard work, perseverance and waiting. And so, it is with all other good things in life, we do our part and we wait.

We wait. We wait for the good things that are coming. If we get impatient, it is a very real possibility that we may miss the good thing for which we have been waiting. Mary Magdalene was a follower of Jesus.  Jesus had saved her life. If you remember the story, it is believed she was the women caught in the very act of adultery with another woman’s husband. People brought her before Jesus and he had publicly forgiven her and saved her from stoning. Since that time, she had remained near Jesus and his followers. She was at the crucifixion. Afterwards, when Jesus was buried, she didn’t want to leave the tomb. The day after the Sabbath, early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary was the first to the tomb and she found it empty. She immediately went to the disciples to report what she had found. Peter and John came running to investigate and also found the tomb empty. Then they left. But Mary stayed and she waited. She didn’t know what to do, so she waited, and lingered. She waited at the last place she knew anything. Her world had been turned upside down and she didn’t know what to do or where to go. As she waited, and waited, she looked back into the tomb and her wait was richly rewarded. She received more than she ever hoped or dreamed. She was first greeted by two angels and then by the one for whom she was waiting and longing, Jesus. She was the first to encounter her resurrected Lord.

Waiting is hard. It requires patience. It requires endurance. But it is worth it. Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Wait.

…but they that wait for Jehovah shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31 ASV