Lessons From Long Lines

“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Galatians 4:4–5

Black Friday came and went without much fanfare this year. I found myself in a Walmart on Black Friday and if I saw 20 people shopping at the end of the store I was in that might be over counting. It was like a ghost town compared to Christmas past. Before Amazon and COVID-19 there was a lot of waiting in lines to make your Christmas purchases. There are lines just about everywhere you go. From your favorite restaurant to the freeway to get home, line after line. If there is one thing we are all forced to learn during the Christmas season, its patience.

James 1:4 in the New King James Translation says, “But let patience have it’s perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Easier said than done, especially if you are the nation of Israel and its been over 400 years since the last time God spoke as we read in the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi. But oh was it worth the wait when you read what took place next in the book of Matthew. The announcement that our Savior was being born in Bethlehem. That adds a whole new meaning to the saying, “Good things come to them that wait”.  

And now, some 2000 years since Jesus resurrected from the dead and ascended back into heaven, we find ourselves back to waiting again for further fulfillment of God’s promises to us. Jesus said He would be coming soon for us. Much like the time between Malachi and Matthew, the world has become a dark place once again but isn’t that how it is, the dark before the dawn? And yet we have a promise from God that any day now, Jesus will return for His bride and whisk her away to the Father’s house. Worth the wait, we might be asking, absolutely. Good things do come to them that wait. Be patient, don’t lose heart, learn the lesson from the lines you find yourself in. One day, and one day sooner than you might think, the waiting will be over and the whole family of God will be gathered together, home at last.

“But those who wait on 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.”

Isaiah 40:31
 

I LOVE YOU!

Michael Osthimer

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