The most precious answer is still…wait

Around 4,000 years ago, Abraham was told by God “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation.” (Genesis 12)

And the Israelites waited.  And waited.  Through times of both plenty and times of drought.  Through both times of jubilee and times of bondage.  Through King David and through the exile.  Through the building of the temple and through its destruction they waited.

Then one night after 2,000 years of waiting…a baby cries in a barn.  Then 6 months later a young couple brings their baby to the temple to be blessed…and Simeon is waiting.  Dr. Luke tells us in 2:25 that “In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel.”  In the NLT it says that Simeon was “eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.”  Eagerly waiting for 2,000 years since God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 12.

How often I become impatient of God’s timing.  How often I forget that God lives outside of time and is no respecter of my watch. How often I forget that God’s most precious answer to me is often…just wait.

So, be silent, my soul, and soon you will see
The greatest of His gifts is simply “Me.”
And though often His answers my seem too late,
The most precious answer of all is still…wait.”