After waiting almost two hours at a particular cell phone store, we were finally called to the counter only to be told that the issue we were having could not be resolved that day! On a chiropractor visit several years ago, in severe pain, I was led into a treatment room and told to wait just a few minutes because I was the next patient. A few minutes turned into almost an hour. Finally, the doctor comes in and unapologetically explains that a doctor friend of his came in after I did, and you know, “we have to take care of our own.”
Wait here. Take a number. We will call you. It is back-ordered. He is running late. She will be with you in just a moment. Much of our life is spent waiting. Some research suggests that we could spend upwards to 6 months of our life just waiting in the average life span. However, not all waiting is terrible. There are good things for which we spend time waiting. The birth of a child, the homecoming of a loved one, a new movie, a pay raise. The Lord?
The command to wait on the Lord is found throughout the Bible. The Old Testament is more about waiting for the Lord’s providential care, but most New Testament references relate to Christ’s second coming. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
I have always found it interesting that we are to comfort one another with these words. We are to comfort one another as we speak about the second coming of Jesus Christ. We are to cheer one another up with all the assurances found in this event because with the word comfort comes ideas of things good, of things soothing and reassuring.
In my limited deduction, reasoning skills, I conclude that our Lord Jesus Christ's second coming is an occasion we can look forward to happening. If it is an occasion we can look forward to happening, that means it has not happened yet. If it has not happened yet, that means we are still waiting for it to happen. If we are still waiting on it to happen, it is good, something we can look forward to, and something that can bring comfort and joy when we think and talk about it; what should our attitude be about it? If the coming of Christ is nothing but good for those who love His appearing (2 Timothy 4:8), how should we view this event in our future?
Our attitude of waiting on the Lord Jesus Christ to return should be positive, happy, uplifting, and confident. Our perspective of waiting on the Lord Jesus Christ to return should be one of earnest expectation, sincere hope, and joyful anticipation.
We should be encouraged and uplifted when we talk and think about these things because, for the faithful child of God, striving daily to live in His Will and Word, the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is the pinnacle of our existence. It is what we have all been waiting on. “My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.” (Psalm 62:5) To wait upon the Lord is to expect something from Him in godly hope, “and that kind of hope does not disappoint” (Romans 5:5).
Love you with the love of the Lord... ~Chris.