Lenten Series: Waiting For Favorable Conditions

Today was all about WAITING.

I woke up to find an audio message - Waiting Room - for me from a friend.  I didn't get to listen to it until late in the afternoon, while I was rushing through rush hour traffic to get to Ash Wednesday Mass.

It spoke of different biblical characters who had to wait - years - for their prayers to be answered:  Abraham and Sarah were old before they had a child; Joseph spent years in prison before becoming a leader in Egypt; Job through years of suffering before being blessed immensely; Simeon waited most of his life to finally see the Messiah.

That's a whole lot of waiting.  And for what?  As the audio message said, "He tunes our hearts and strengthens our character in the waiting."

"Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!" (Psalm 27:14)

In all of those situations, in the end, God was faithful to His promise and delivered far beyond expectations ... at the right moment.

Which leads me to the verse in today's 2nd Reading which struck me:

"For he says: In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you. Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)

It reminded me of a line from The Little Prince.  In his conversation with the King from asteroid 325, the Little Prince asked the King to order the sun to set.  To which, the King replied, "You shall have your sunset.  I shall command it.  But ... I shall wait until conditions are favorable."

At first glance, the statement may seem funny - the King's attempt at hiding the fact that he, in fact, does not have dominion over everything.  But, contemplating it deeper, I thought about what another friend told me, "There is order in the universe."

We are part of this complex tapestry of life.  Individual but interdependent, such that one little thing we do or not do triggers a series of events which, inevitably, impacts everyone - in one form or another.  Thus, for one thing to happen (or not happen), all conditions should be favorable.  A series of seemingly independent events come together like clockwork to make that happen.  Only God knows what those are and when it will all align.

Forcing our way when the time is not right will be preemptive, much like pulling out a domino piece before it's due to drop in a domino chain effect.

So, be calm in the waiting and, sometimes, the deafening silence.

Hold fast - in excited anticipation - for His impeccable timing and faithfulness.  Because, when that time comes, our God of surprises shall not be outdone.