Queue at the cashier. Doctor’s appointment. Bus stop. Train platform.

One of the most difficult and hardly ever bearable moments in life is waiting. In this era where everything seems to be available to us within a click of the mouse, waiting squeezes out the little that’s left of our patience. We have been accustomed to a culture of “fast and instant” that it has become so hard to get by even just a few minutes of waiting time.

We grumble.  We shift our body weight from foot to foot. We check our watches every split second. We cross our arms. Impatience is spelled out all over our faces.

Waiting is just difficult. 

But it is in waiting that our character is tried. It is in waiting that our ability to weather the storms of life is strengthened. Waiting shapes and hones us. Waiting is inevitable to acquiring strength of character. 

The bible tells us that strength rises as we wait upon the Lord (Isaiah 40:31).

A beautiful picture of waiting upon the Lord is depicted in Psalm 130. It tells of the patience that a watchman has to endure upon keeping watch until dawn. The guard remains alert and awake. Although it drains his strength, he is earnest and eager for he knows that each night passes to a dawn of a bright new morning.

“With all my heart, I am waiting, Lord, for you. I trust your promises. I wait for you more eagerly than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn. Yes, I wait more eagerly than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn.” – Psalm 130: 5-6

It is three days until Christmas. Still three days. But oh, what anticipation! We await a most wondrous celebration – the coming of our Lord on that first Christmas morn’.

“Lord Jesus, we await your coming like soldiers on a night watch.”