Waiting is one of life’s most important activities.
Waiting for a baby to be born, waiting for a fruit tree to bear fruit, waiting for someone to visit you when you are sick, waiting for something good to happen, waiting for seasons to change, waiting for justice to be dealt out…..waiting for your enemies to get their just desserts.
In my backyard is an avocado tree which I planted from a sapling given by a friend about 20 years ago. It grew slowly. It catches the morning sun as it is on the eastern face of my house. It has lots of leaves but for 20 years it never bore any fruit. There was once when the gardener burnt a lot of grass too near it and the tree seemed to bend towards the west for a while, with half of its “body” suffering from burnt scars. I prayed that it would recover from the injury. It did but it never grew straight again. Now it is a leaning tree, like the Tower of Pisa. I continue to love it, fertilize it. If it does not have fruits, it has luscious leaves and I love the fact that I have an avocado tree in my garden.
As it still did not flower, friends and relatives continued to inquire about it. A cousin has three avocado trees and he lives not too far away. His trees bear flowers but no fruit. We never thought of cutting down our trees.
Suddenly a few months ago the tree started to flower and now it is bearing fruits. It delights us as we watch the fruits grow bigger as the days go by.
There is so much joy when one looks forward to the harvest. So much anticipation! It has really been a long wait. Do you wait? Do you wait that long for a tree to fruit? Do you wait for things to happen?
In our life, we often become too impatient when waiting for an event, or a happening. We often cannot wait to find a spouse, for example, and we do not wait long enough and jump into a relationship which turns disastrous. Friends and relatives would then advise, “You should have waited!”
Some people do wait and yet eventually do not find a life partner, but we can still be strong and stay single. In singleness we can learn to wait for the Lord.
In a lighter vein, a very senior Civil Servant once remarked that after working for 30 years in Malaysia, he felt that waiting is an art, a specialist skill. While waiting for VIPS he needed to focus on something to help him be in full control of his emotions and have a smile ready at all times. As he was always in the limelight he did not have the luxury of reading text messages or Bible verses on his hand phone. So he started memorising Bible verses while standing and waiting for VIPS.
The book of Isaiah gives us one of the best advice about waiting. Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Some people wait for a long time to get a job especially these days when there are too many people with different qualifications chasing after too few jobs. The supply is bigger than the demand. But God has his plans for all of us. “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” – Psalm 27:14
The Bible gives us many examples of people waiting. Abraham and Sarah waited for a child until they were almost 100 years old and God grant them a son, Isaac. The Jews waited for their Saviour for generations and missed recognizing Jesus Christ!! Joseph waited. Moses waited. Elisha waited. Jesus waited until he was 30 to start his mission.
Waiting gives you something to hope for, pray for, and look to God alone for. Waiting with prayers will help us all. Here is a poem to help you along the way while waiting.
“Ask and believe
You’re gonna see
The hand of God in every little thing
Don’t you be afraid
Of giants in your way
With God you know that anything’s possible
So step into the fight
He’s right there by your side
The stones inside your hand might besmall
But watch the giants fall…”
— Francesca Battistelli – “Giants Fall”