I have been thinking lately about
how much time I spend waiting and those thoughts naturally led to how many of
us wait for a variety of things. We wait
for the birth of a child, or for a loved one to take their last breath. We wait for medical test results – will this
be cancer? We wait for academic test
results – will my ACT be good enough for the scholarship I hope to receive –
will I pass this course – will my child pass their driving test – will my
parent pass their driving test? We wait
for a child’s first tooth to come in and we wait for partials to be
completed. We wait in line for groceries
and in the hope of gaining employment. We
wait for our parent to pick us up from school and we wait for the end of the
work day so that we can be with our children.
We wait for the phone to ring in hopes that someone would just call to
say hello.
The more I thought of all these
things that fill our lives with wait and worry – I found myself drawn to the
upper room. Sometimes when I wait and
worry it feels as if that darkness of the upper room encompasses my every
thought and feeling. It sometimes
becomes so easy to allow the darkness of despair and hopelessness to rule my
world. I suspect that you may battle
with that darkness just as I do at times.
I cannot fathom what Mary and the
eleven felt as they locked themselves in the darkness of the upper room. Jesus was such a bright light in their world
and such a source of hope. That darkness
must have been a crushing weight upon them.
We can relate to the weight of that darkness – but when we face that
darkness with can know with certainty what the friends of Jesus could only wait
for in hope. We can enter darkness
knowing that we are not abandoned! Jesus
is there in the darkness right along-side us – whispering our name and calling
us to him.
So my friends, when you find
yourself waiting and start to let that darkness surround you, remember to wait
in hope – for HE is there!
The Promise by 4Him has often
gotten me through times of waiting . . .
Shalom,
Tina
