...Wait!

In my last post, I shared a well known bible verse. And I think that it is possibly one of my favourite bible verses. But a verse that is definitely one of my favourites is from Ecclesiastes:

There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:
²         a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

I love this passage for a number of reasons. Mainly because it reminds me when I am impatient, when I am wondering why, that there are reasons. And I constantly need that reminder, because I am constantly wondering why I am waiting!

And that isn't just waiting for a train to turn up, because ultimately that will happen. Even if it is late, or not the one you were planning on getting, a train will turn up. It is almost a given.

But there are some things that you can't be so sure about. I once said to someone I was prepared to wait. But now, as time has moved on, it gets harder and harder to stick by that statement. I'm not so happy about waiting now. I'm getting impatient, because I don't want to wait.

Advent is all about waiting. Waiting to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But we also look at Advent as a time of preparation. Preparing for Christmas. As we wait, we prepare.

Although I don't want to wait anymore, I have to remember that there is a time for everything. There is a time to prepare and a time to sit back and enjoy the benefit of all those preparations. So I don't want to wait anymore, but it is time to prepare and the more preparations the better the celebrations.

No I don't like waiting, it needs to hurry up. But there is a time for everything!