I’m traveling today. I don’t travel a lot, but every time I do, I am reminded of something…

I hate waiting.

Everything about the process of getting on an airplane seems to be designed for the purpose of making you wait.

You wait at the ticket counter, then you wait, to wait in the security line. The best part of this wait, is that your pants won’t stay up, cuz you have taken your belt off, and you are kicking yourself for forgetting that in the airport your underwear becomes your outerware, and your socks are simply not airport appropriate. If you get through the security line and don’t feel like the TSA officer owes you a date, or at least a drink, you earn the right to wait at the gate for the flight attendants to tell you they are ready for you.

You wait on the plain
You wait on the runway
You wait when you land
You wait at the gate again
You wait at the baggage claim

You wait at the rental car line

All you really do is wait.

Did I mention I hate waiting?

The truth is, no one really enjoys waiting, because waiting is simply the delay of a comfort that we seek. Really, we should probably avoid waiting, at all costs right? It can’t really help us can it?

Unless… well, here’s the thing…

God designed us to be people who wait… often.

If you read the stories leading up to Advent, the crazy amounts of waiting is impossible to miss. Why? I

don’t know for sure, but I do know that the essence of waiting assumes a lack of control. In any context, the “waiter,” is never the one running the show. The one who is waiting is at the mercy of whoever they are waiting for.

So, clearly, one of the gifts God intended to give mankind in the Christmas story was the gift of waiting.

The choice to wait, assumes a level of faith. When you lose faith, you stop waiting.

We live in a world that is allergic to waiting. We want everything fast, we want everything easy, we want everything when we decide it’s time.

We want to eliminate, or at least, minimize the amount of time we spend waiting for anything.

Here’s the thing…

All the power of Advent is found in the waiting.

As we wait, we experience surrender, as we take on a posture of humility toward the one we are waiting for.

Charles Stanley said this…

As we wait for Him, we open our hearts and lives to the powerful and beautiful shaping our Father wants to do in our lives.

Psalm 37:7 says…

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him

So, the big question is…

What does it mean to wait? Today, tomorrow… This Christmas…

What might God want to do in your heart, in your life?

How might he be longing to shape you… if only you would choose to wait.