Waiting

And now we wait.......

What are you waiting for? Waiting is a fact of life, part of the nature of time itself. Everything can't happen at once so there will always be things that we have to wait for.

We wait for the weekend. We wait for a planned vacation. We wait for games, concerts, movies and other events that we know we'll enjoy. Not too long ago, there was a countdown clock on this page for The Hunger Games movie, and before too long you'll probably see one for the start of Alabama football. Or something else.

We wait for other, more serious stuff. Some of us are waiting for there start of a career, to get out of school. Others are waiting for a career to end, to retire. Some are waiting for their future spouse to come along. Some are waiting for loved ones to come home from Afghanistan. Yes, waiting is a fact of life.

On this Holy Saturday, waiting is brought into the spotlight. It is the day between the crucifixion of Jesus, and, well, something else. Something that he had predicted many times during his ministry. He said that he would conquer death, that he would rise from the grave.

And so his disciples waited, in anguish. His enemies waited - we know because they posted a guard at his tomb to make sure nobody perpetrated a fraudulent miracle (see Matthew 27:62-66). The angels is heaven waited.

In fact all creation waited. The earth, the sun, the stars, and the whole universe were suspended in anticipation of the most important thing that would ever happen. The conquest of death and defeat of the sin curse, all rolled into one glorious event, was just hours away.
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And so we wait.

If I may be so bold, let me encourage you to take full advantage of this day. Allow yourself to feel the anticipation. You and I both have deep longings, things we wish would hurry up but they won't. If nothing else, we long for the barrier of death between us and and our loved ones to go away. Today, meditate on those thoughts. Imagine how all of creation felt while the Lord of the universe lay silent in a grave. God's countdown clock ticking away.

Wait. Wait........................................   Wait.

Sunday's coming.