Waiting

“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
—Luke 2:36-38

There’s a famous play entitled Waiting on Godot, by Samuel Beckett. It’s about two men waiting on a man named Godot. The play documents their conversation, life experiences, and everything else that is going on in their lives while they are waiting for Godot to arrive. But, Godot never shows. They wait and wait, but he never shows. Many men and women have hypothesized who Godot actually is or represents. Some believe it to be God Himself. These men are waiting on God to show up, but He never does, and their waiting is in vain.

Waiting on Godot is a cynical look at waiting on God. The world believes that it’s a foolish thing to do, but not for the Christian. The believer in Christ is to wait on God. It’s hard to do. We don’t like to wait. But, wait we must. We must wait on God’s timing, and His timing is perfect every single time. He doesn’t move too slowly or too suddenly; it’s just we who sometimes don’t trust in it. We get antsy; we want things to happen on our timetable, in the way that we want. But when we try to take things into our own hands, we inevitably make a mess of things. If we just would have waited, God would have taken care of everything.

The saint of God matures through sheer waiting. There is no quick fix or Cliff notes to spiritual maturity. Many want a shortcut or bookmark to spiritual growth, but it takes time, faith, and waiting. We must be quiet and wait on the Lord.

In our passage for today, we have Anna, whom the Bible calls a prophetess. She understood waiting. She was married only seven years when her husband died, and then spent the remaining several decades at the temple, worshiping the Lord with fasting and prayer, day and night. She wasn’t made spiritually mature overnight; she waited, she worshiped, she fasted, she kept praying, and she kept pursuing the Lord.

Anna appears on the scene soon after Jesus’ birth, and right when His parents brought Him to the temple to have Him circumcised. She approaches Jesus’ parents and starts giving thanks to God. She then tells all of those who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem about Jesus. Many were waiting for the coming Messiah. They had combed the scriptures to learn about Him and gained glimpses into His person. They had a vague understanding of what He would be like and what He would do. And now here is an old woman, prophesying about Jesus to all who were waiting, telling them that their waiting was soon to be over because the one who would redeem Jerusalem was here.

Like Anna, we must wait on God. To take matters into our own hands shows spiritual immaturity and a lack of faith in God. What are you waiting on? And how long have you been waiting? Wait longer. Seek the Lord in the midst of your waiting. Don’t try to manipulate Him into giving answers that you think are best. Submit to His will and He will give His direction at the right time.

God does things in His own way and in His own time. Although his heart is to grow us and bless us in many ways, rarely does He operate according to our wants our desires, for His thoughts and ways are above ours (Is. 55:8). But when we trust and wait on Him, He enables us to see spiritual joys beyond our imagination. Amen.

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