Isn’t it interesting the memories from our childhood that we take forward into adulthood? So often they seem really random. Some good, some bad, some quite neutral.
As a child, when I was extra excited about something far into the future (as it seemed to me), I often said to my dad those infamous words, “I can’t wait for _________!” I don’t recall what I was excited about, but it was probably a birthday or Christmas or a vacation, or even something pretty inconsequential.
To which my dad would always reply, “Well, what are you going to do if you can’t wait?” Of course, I had no answer for that, but it didn’t diminish how much I was looking forward to that next great thing.
At the risk of sounding discouraging, as an adult I would say I have fewer and fewer events that I’m excitedly looking forward to. Part of that “excitement tempering” is because I’m a little less flighty than I was as a young child. I handle the ups and downs, good times and bad, with a more proper perspective. I’ve learned that riding a big emotional roller coaster isn’t necessarily how I want to roll nowadays. (Same could be said about a real roller coaster …)
Oh sure, I still look forward to my occasional vacation and times with friends. I look forward to the seasons of Spring and Fall. I look forward to the girls’ report cards from their daycamp providers.
You can see how the excitement level has moderated a bit over the years. Really, report cards are now a welcome event? Yep, that’s my life now!
Rarely would I ever exclaim, “I can’t wait for _________!” I’ve learned that I can wait for nearly everything. It all comes in its appointed time, and I’ll enjoy it when it arrives.
However, recently as I was driving the girls to daycamp, the sun and the clouds that morning were extra beautiful. Such unique interplay of the sun rays peeking in and out of the fluffy white clouds.
I found myself thinking, “I can’t wait for ________________!” And the blank was this – “the day when I see this beauty from my eternal perspective.”
Now I’ve written about this often – how amazing our world will be when Jesus returns and God restores and redeems all of his creation. I even wrote about it as recently as a few weeks ago when I was in awe of a beautiful scene from my Florida vacation. So this is nothing new.
What was new, however, was the idea of how long we’re willing to be in that waiting room.
Going back to that childhood excitement, my guess is that the anticipated event wasn’t years into the future. It was likely a few days or perhaps a few weeks away. I would not have been willing to wait for anything that long.
Even as an adult, the same sentiment exists. I’ll start looking forward to a vacation when it’s a few weeks away. Certainly not going to get all worked up for anything years into the future.
With one exception – I will wait as long as God determines for that glorious day when I see Jesus face-to-face, whether it’s upon my death or upon Jesus’ victorious return.
The magnitude of the anticipated event determines how long we’re willing to sit in the waiting room.
That was the new perspective I received that morning. Nothing in the life of a believer will ever be as life-changing and eternity-changing as that day of full restoration. What awaits us is far beyond any perfection our human brains can imagine.
How long are we willing to wait for that? Simply put – our entire lives. But it will be so, so worth the wait. There’s a clear longing in my soul for that day, but not in a frustrated sense (most of the time). I look forward with incredible joy to that day.
Until then, I strive to wait patiently for a reward that will far outweigh any of the “wait.”
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”
2 Corinthians 2:9
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