Worth Waiting For

One of my sons sucked his thumb as a little boy.
He not only sucked his thumb, he carried around a blanket.
It was not just one blanket he carried; it was variations of the same blanket.
I was always glad about that since it made washing the favorite blanket a bit easier.

Everywhere he went, his thumb and blanket were right there with him.
It was his built in comfort.
To me, the blanket became his trademark.
So much so, I called him my Linus.

Linus van Pelt, the best friend of Charlie Brown.
Charles Schulz, who created the Charlie Brown comic strip talked about Linus.

Linus, my serious side, is the house intellectual, bright, well-informed which I suppose may contribute to his feelings of insecurity.

Lee Mendelson, who produced the Charlie Brown television specials commented on Linus.

He made sucking your thumb and holding a security blanket OK. I think he’s one of the most original fictional characters of all time—blending childish behavior with great wisdom.

Linus, the beloved character who knows what Christmas is all about.
Linus, the one who encouraged Charlie Brown in his choice of a Christmas tree.
Linus, the philosopher and theologian.
Linus, the little brother of Lucy.

This son, now a lawyer, was my Linus.
I affectionately called him that because of his blanket and his thumb.
It was one Christmas that the name and the sentiment came full circle.
It was all about a gift that was placed on my lap.

My son enjoys outdoing himself when it comes to Christmas gifts for me.
It is not the size or the cost of the gift but rather the sentiment behind it.
He always hands the present to me, absolutely certain that this gift will be the one.
This gift will be the one to bring the tears to my eyes and a tug to my heart.

That particular Christmas, he may have been right.
I opened the box as my emotions got the best of me.
It was a washing machine with Snoopy on the top.
Sitting next to the washer was Linus patiently waiting for his blanket to get clean.

There it was.
A Charlie Brown figure from a card store capturing the essence of my son.
The base of the figure said it all.
The best things in life are worth waiting for.

I tease him that he gets extra pleasure in making me cry.
In reality, he gets extra pleasure giving gifts that mean something between the two of us.
No one else would quite appreciate a Linus figure in the same way.
No one else would quite grasp the significance.

Waiting.
Waiting is a pause, an interval, or a delay.
Waiting is an interminable period of time with relative inactivity.
Waiting can be a fruitful time if used correctly.

Being in God’s waiting room is especially difficult.
It is when God is seemingly silent, that we find the waiting agonizing.
Relative inactivity can be transformed into productive Kingdom activity.
Waiting can be used as a time of prayer and a time of trusting the Lord.

But they who wait for 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 ESV)

Can it be true?
Can waiting actually make you stronger?
Can waiting actually produce a certain fortitude?
Yes, if we learn to wait for the Lord.

It is His presence that we desire most.
It is knowing that He hears us that makes our heart sing.
In those periods of waiting, God feels very absent.
In those times of waiting, God seems indifferent to our pleas.

We couldn’t be more wrong!
So we hold our security blankets and we look for comfort in the waiting.
When all along the comfort is in the One we are waiting for.
The comfort is in God alone.

We learn to trust when we wait.
We learn to believe when we wait.
We learn to hope when we wait.
We learn where our strength comes from when we wait.

We wait on the Lord because He is the only One worth waiting for.
His plans are best.
His timing is best.
His purposes are best.

In that time of waiting we learn what the waiting is for.
We learn about God who has been there all along.
We learn that we were never abandoned.
We learn that He has walked through the time of waiting with us.

The best things in life are worth waiting for when we wait with Him.

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:20,21)

Waiting on the Lord brings immeasurably more blessings than we could ever imagine.
Waiting will not always produce the outcome we expected.
Waiting will always produce the outcome God intended.
As we grow in Him, we learn to value God’s plans as far better than our own.

That is what the waiting does.
It gives us a new perspective.
It gives us God’s perspective.
God’s plan is worth waiting for.