Watching and Waiting

There are many of us who have sensed a void in our hearts, especially during very frustrating and infuriating times in our lives. The dimensions of this emptiness, when we are left to wait all alone, are so wide and deep that they cannot be measured. It is a spiritual emptiness that nothing that this world has to offer can fill. Have you sensed fruitlessness, worthlessness, deprivation, or abandonment that exposes a void deep within you?

The Killer in the Amish settlement had crammed himself with much hatred and anger over the years. He responded with violence and murder. The path of violence results only in more violence. The only thing that darkness cannot oppose is light. The only thing that will overcome hatred and anger is love.The best way to deal with emptiness is to fill it with the presence of God and with activities that will draw us nearer to His presence. If we can recognize this emptiness as a longing or thirst for the Spirit of Christ, then we will no longer feel empty. As we pray, reflect, and study God’s word our emptiness is slowly filled with God’s presence. When we discipline ourselves to do so regularly we begin to sense a joy and love for life that we did not have before. If we invite the Spirit of Christ to dwell within us, we will find ourselves brimming with love, joy, patience, hope, and peace.

Zachariah and Elizabeth had prayed earnestly for many years for a child. They were both descendants of priestly families. They were considered to be righteous in the eyes of God, as they had been faithful and sincere in following every regulation of the Jewish law. Why they were not blessed with children is puzzling. For many years they had endured the pain and disgrace within the community of Elizabeth being barren and had reached the point of no hope of ever having a child. When Zachariah went to the temple to serve his two weeks in the temple, hardly did he realize that it was going to be a life-changing experience. As the faithful gathered and watched the incense smoke that he burned rise heavenward as a sign of their prayers going up toward God, an angel of the Lord appeared before Zachariah in the inner most sanctuary. Zachariah was dumbstruck with an angelic vision of the good news that his wife Elizabeth would bear him a child.

In what had seemed like an unfavorable situation, God rewarded them with a child who was declared by Christ to be the greatest man born of a woman on earth (Luke 7:28). What the angel said brought great joy and cheer to hearts that had been waiting patiently. John was described as being filled with the Holy Spirit, with spiritual powers comparable to Elijah. He would herald the coming of the Messiah. Zachariah must have greatly rejoiced for he, as a faithful Jew, had also prayed for the coming of the Messiah. When Zachariah asked the angel for a sign, the angel said he would not be able to speak until the baby was born. Was Zachariah’s silence the sign that heralded the birth of his child? When Elizabeth delivered the baby, she rejoiced and said that God had shown them great favor and taken the disgrace she endured away from her. Their patient wait had led Elizabeth and Zachariah to receive one of the greatest honors in Christian history.

King David was anointed as King by Samuel when he was but a young boy. However he had to wait for many years before he became King. Davids psalms of prayer and praise have been a blessing to the faithful during their long period of waiting (Psalm 40, Psalm 23). He even had to endure the persecution from King Saul who tried many times to kill him. Patience is the ability to endure all kinds of hardships and monotonous situations until we are able to realize God’s purpose for our lives. The author of Ecclesiastes says there is a time and purpose for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). We must accept the reality of the situation that just as it takes times to grow physically; it takes time to grow spiritually.

It is the hard and trying times in our lives that truly test what we are made off. It is these times that shape and mold us into responsible and experienced people. The bottom line is that we should not get annoyed or disappointed. Christ said that if we are patient we will gain our lives (Luke 21:19). What do we hope for? What do we love? What do we have faith in? What is it that occupies our thoughts? Where does our heart lie? St. Paul (1 Timothy 6:6-12) says in his letter to Timothy that we should not get snared by senseless and harmful desires that will destroy us. He encourages us to pursue righteousness, faith, love, patience and gentleness. It is when we fight the good fight of faith that we win the race of life. Paul says that if we emulate the attitude of Christ toward each other, then God will give us the patience and encouragement we need to live in harmony with each other (Romans 15:5-6).

To invite the Holy Spirit into our lives is likened to springs of living water that well up within us with a new burst of life. To those living in darkness it is light, to those who are lost it is to be found, to those who are poor it is to be rich, and to those who are sick to be well. He quenches our thirst and feeds our hunger to do God’s will. He changes and transforms us to be more like Christ. Christ said that we should surrender all our worries and anxieties into the hands of God. It is only when the Holy Spirit comes and fills up, and cleanses all the dark crevices in our lives that we begin to lose that empty feeling. In Christ we find forgiveness for our past blunders and mistakes (Colossians 1:9-14). He gives us a new vision of what He wants us to be. If we watch and wait, God will reveal His plan and purpose for our lives. Christ offers us a new life in Him (Matthew 16:24-26). As the popular hymn goes, near the cross I will watch and wait, hoping trusting ever, till I reach the golden strand, just beyond the river.