Waiting is Hard to Do!
Have you noticed that some things are painfully slow? It can be hard to wait in line, get a return call, or receive the product you need for your project. It is hard to wait for our special coffee drink. It is hard to wait for healing. It is hard to wait for the Lord’s blessings. It is hard to wait for recovery, refreshing, or renewal.
An article in Time.com noted that ketchup flows out of a glass bottle at a rate of .028 miles per hour. That’s slower than a tortoise, which, according to the San Diego Zoo, zips along at a blazing 0.16 miles per hour, or almost six times faster than ketchup. But impatiently tapping your ketchup bottle might be a thing of the past. Dave Smith, a Ph.D. candidate at MIT, and a team of MIT mechanical engineers and nano-technologists have offered a possible solution to this ketchup flow problem. After months of research, Smith and his team developed LiquiGlide, which they define as a kind of structured liquid [that’s] rigid like a solid but lubricated like a liquid. The researchers say that coating the inside of a bottle with LiquiGlide will cause ketchup and other sauces to slide out faster than a tortoise.
I am reading in the book of Luke. In chapter two, a man named Simeon is often overlooked because the main characters, Mary and Joseph, and the baby Jesus, are the focus. Besides, what did he do that was such a big deal? He waited to “see” the Messiah and hoped to get a “glimpse” of the Messiah.
Luke 2:25-26, “At that time, there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.”
What a powerful word and promise from the Lord to Simeon. I started to remember the words I have received from the Lord and the promises He has spoken into my heart. And I am still waiting. What was Simeon doing with his life waiting for the promise and its fulfillment? He was waiting.
He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.
We don’t know much about Simeon other than he watched, prayed, waited, and that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. I think he was doing something awesome that he may not have understood.
He was keeping hope alive.
He believed God would do something wonderful in the world and wanted to see it. He thought something tremendous was going on and that God was behind it. He wanted to participate in the move of God. But he had to be patient and wait. We are waiting because it is God’s kingdom, not ours. We are not in control, so we are all stuck in the waiting room. But as we wait, we keep hope alive! Think about it: as we are faithful and patient even when we do not have what we want, or we have not yet seen what God has promised us, we remember…
Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The Lord’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
How many months, years or decades did Simeon wait? What would have happened if he had given up on “his hope?” What if he had just decided it’s not worth waiting for, it’s never going to happen, and I’m making a fool out of myself? But if Simeon had let impatience and discouragement fill him rather than the Holy Spirit, he would have missed the amazing moment that the Lord promised him (The Holy Spirit was upon him).
He kept waiting and waiting until one day, Mary and Joseph were walking out of the temple with a baby. Simeon asked to see the baby, and he took Jesus in his arms, and he knew. We are not told how he knew, but he knew, and these are words of a champion “waiter”: “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” (Luke 2:29-32).
In the waiting room together!
Pastor Steve