The last time Monty Waldron sat in a waiting room, his scheduled time passed by without his appointment beginning. As so often happens in a doctor’s office, the day’s agenda had become delayed. Patients sat waiting for their turns and trying to ignore the agitation that arose as the clock kept ticking.
As Waldron reflected on this experience, he thought about the story of Simeon recorded in Luke 2. The verses explain that the Holy Spirit had communicated to Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. No date was named, and no appointment time was set. So, every day, Simeon woke up wondering if this would be the day he met the Savior or if it would be another day spent in the proverbial waiting room.
“How did he persevere through the agitation that comes with knowing the end of the story but having to live with the uncertainty of the in-between?” Waldron writes at CT. “I can only conclude that Simeon’s devotion was rooted in the person with the plan, more than the plan itself.”
As we look forward to the ultimate return of Jesus, the wait can feel so long. May we remain faithful and hopeful like Simeon, trusting that—while there is so much we do not know—we can be confident in the God who will bring about complete restoration.
