Why Wait?

There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and was a widow for eighty-four years. She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers. At that very moment, she came up and began to thank God and to speak about him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke 2:36-38 (CSB)

Do you look forward to traffic jams, sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, and going through TSA? 

Probably not. Few of us want to wait for something to happen. We’d rather get it done and move on with our lives. 

In the story “The Magic Thread,” a boy named Peter is given a magical ball with a thread sticking out from it. He’s told that each time he pulls the thread, he can skip through the unpleasant parts of life.

The temptation is more than he can resist. He tugs his life thread to fast forward through the school day, the work week, two years of compulsory military service, and even the difficult years of raising his children.

As he nears the end of his life, the mysterious woman who gave him the magical thread returns to ask him if he’s had a good life. Peter responds:

"I'm not sure," Peter said. "Your magic ball is a wonderful thing. I have never had to suffer or wait for anything in my life. And yet it has all passed so quickly…"

When given the chance, Peter asks for the opportunity to live his life again, but without the magic ball. He reasons, “Then I will experience the bad things as well as the good without cutting them short, and at least my life will not pass as swiftly and meaninglessly as a daydream."

Sometimes, I get frustrated that Amazon’s packages take longer than two days to arrive. I’m even upset by five-second ads interrupting an online video.

More seriously, as I see suffering prolonged without any hope of resolution, I wonder if God cares. I raise my voice in accusatory prayer: “God, why is Jesus taking so long to return? Why do we have to go through another Advent?”

As I’ve struggled to wait, I’m recognizing the gift of Advent. It’s a season designed to remind us that Jesus has come and will come again. It’s an opportunity to slow down and be mentored by the prophetess Anna because there’s no one in the Scriptures who so faithfully demonstrates the virtue of waiting for Jesus. 

We see in Luke 2 that Anna was widowed after a rather short marriage. Ever since, she dedicated herself to God, praying in the temple night and day, to the honored age of eighty-four.

It’s then, long past the time we might expect her to be of any utility or significance, that God appoints her to confirm that Jesus is the Messiah. As James Edwards explains, Anna is the “requisite second witness in Judaism (Deut 19:15).”

Though we might value a high-powered career, children and grandchildren, or adventure, Anna chose to fast and pray in the temple. In his commentary on this passage, Joel Green notes, “Fasting constitutes a form of protest, an assertion that all is not well…Anna’s abstinence is an expression of her hope, a form of prayer entreating God to set things right.”

By contrast, there are so many ways we numb ourselves to the suffering of this world.

Are we busy, entertained consumers? 

We need the prophetess Anna, who models the beauty of waiting, fasting, and faithful prayer.

As we sit with God, he transforms our lives to be a protest against a mad world.

Instead of imposing ourselves upon others, we invite God to prepare the way.

Instead of dictating vision, we cultivate a sacred awareness of God’s initiative. 

Instead of power politics, we discover creative ways to serve others.

Instead of defending our rights, we depend on the grace of God.

Advent invites you and me to wait with God.

It’s counterintuitive and counter-cultural, but what if it’s also how we open our eyes to see how God is already at work?

As we journey through Advent, how could we imitate Anna’s example?

As we sit together in attentive prayer, may God awaken our hearts to see his redeeming work.

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I invite you to share your struggles and insights on this topic with me and the Uncommon Pursuit community.

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Photo by Nirmal Rajendharkumar on Unsplash (I’ve cropped it).