Waiting… It can make us worried or anxious, anticipatory or frustrated. Honestly, waiting is something that I loathe doing—I am just an impatient person. (I really need the Spirit’s work in that!) 

But waiting is also a huge part of our lives! Waiting for the light to change. Waiting for our significant other to be ready. Waiting for someone to recognize our contribution to the company. Waiting for the news (whether good or bad). As John Mayer sings, “We keep on waiting (waiting) on the world to change.” Waiting is a part of our lives. Doctors have an entire room dedicated to the practice! Yet it is also one of the hardest things we have to do.

We see throughout Scripture that God’s people find it difficult to wait, too. One of the phrases that pops up over and over on the lips of God’s people is, “How long, O LORD?” We see it throughout the Psalms and the Prophets:

Psalm 6:3: My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?

Habakkuk 1:2: How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save?

Psalm 13:1-2: How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

How long, O Lord?

Maybe those are the same words on your heart…

I’ve been waiting for a child… How long, O Lord?

I’ve been waiting on a new job… How long, O Lord?

I’ve been waiting for remission… How long, O Lord?

I’ve been waiting for a spouse… How long, O Lord?

I’ve been waiting on my depression to relent... How long, O Lord?

I’ve been waiting and praying for my loved one to come to know you… How long, O Lord?

How long, O Lord?

Waiting is a major theme of Scripture. God is always faithful to his people… yet he often seems to keep them waiting.

Sarah and Abraham waited 25 years for God to send Isaac… How long, O Lord?

The people cried out in slavery in Egypt, and God sent them a leader… as a baby. And they had to wait 80 years for him to grow up… How long, O Lord?

God promised a Messiah as far back as Abraham, but definitely in Isaiah… and the people wait 700+ years for Jesus to arrive... How long, O Lord?

Or Jesus promises us that he is coming again to set all things right… and yet here we sit, still waiting… How long, O Lord?

Over and over again, though, Scripture also reminds us that (a) God is faithful to his people, and (b) God’s timing is rarely our timing. As Peter tells us, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness…” (2 Peter 3:8-9). 

God’s timing is not my preferred timing. Yet God’s timing is always perfect, always right, and always as it needs to be.

In a conversation with a good friend over the weekend, they casually asked me, “Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose to come when he did? I mean, I would have chosen a time with running water, or electricity, or mattresses. Toilets! Why in the first century BC?” And we can feel it, can’t we? Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…” (Galatians 4:4). 

For whatever reason, God chose to wait until the time that was best… even though it didn’t make sense to those who were waiting.

We currently sit in the time of waiting. The season of Advent comes from the Latin adventus, or “coming,” but it has come to signify waiting: waiting on Christmas to arrive, remembering those who waited on Jesus’ first arrival, waiting on the second coming of Christ.

For two thousand years we’ve continued to wait. Jesus promised he is coming again soon. And so we wait with anticipation, echoing the words of the early Church, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev. 22:20b). Especially in a word full of chaos and turmoil, “Come, LORD Jesus… How long, O LORD, how long?” Because we long for things to be set right. But God waits for the timing that is best, and it is rarely our timing. And God is always faithful to his people, and to his promises, and his word never fails.

So until that day comes, may we wait patiently on the LORD… And may God give us patience and grace as we wait on his timing.