Friday

December 11

Waiting

It seems like in 2020 we have been doing a lot of waiting. Waiting for the quarantine to be over. Waiting for the stores to reopen, so we can actually see what we are buying. Waiting for church and school to  reopen. Waiting on the stimulus check. Waiting on the election.  Waiting to go back to “normal.”

God’s people had to wait too. They didn’t hear from Him for about 400 years. Four hundred years between the Old and New Testaments. No prophet from God. They did have the Word, the law and the histories. But nothing new, nothing fresh for them. No word.

Is no news really good news? Maybe sometimes, but not in this case. The Good News was prophesied:

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse.” Malachi 4:5-6. NASB

The people knew their Savior was coming. They were looking forward to it. But for generation after generation, nothing. Four hundred years, a generation of generations. No word. No prophet. Dry.

It would have been easy to lose hope, to stop looking and watching. But wise people still watched and looked; wise men. The wise persevered.  They didn’t lose hope; they believed.

We are still waiting for the second return of Jesus. This is one of the many paradoxes of the faith. He lives in us; He is already here. But He is also returning. “Come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20b. NASB.   

Lord, help us to use this time, this season of waiting, to hasten your return, to share the Good News of your return. Amen.