A few years ago my husband pruned our holly tree. Boy, did he! I wondered if any of those beautiful red berries would ever appear again. And since that time, I’ve had to work at getting enough boughs to decorate the house at Christmas. But not this year! I have never seen so many holly berries on any holly tree ever! It’s absolutely stunning. Who would have believed it? Certainly not me. After a couple years of not seeing any results, I had given up.
Failing to believe what I can’t see rears its head in other areas of my life more consequential than Christmas décor. How often do I prematurely jump to the wrong conclusion when I don’t see what I hoped to see? I’m still learning that God’s timing doesn’t always line up with mine.
You know the story of Simeon. A devout Jew, he had waited his whole life to see the coming of the Messiah. And when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus into the temple, he immediately recognized the Son of God. “My eyes have seen your salvation” (Luke 2:30). All those years of waiting honed his spiritual acuity. He never stopped believing.
And neither should we.
This Christmas I sense a lot of people in the waiting room. Some hopes and dreams have been pruned and the new growth has yet to appear. Maybe you’re one of them. It seems like what you expected is on backorder, interrupted by a supply chain fiasco. So you’re still waiting for that check to arrive, for the doctor to pronounce you cancer free, for a son or daughter’s return to the faith.
Don’t lose heart! Instead of worrying about the future (which changes absolutely nothing), choose to trust God. Nothing in the universe rivals his faithfulness. Let him use the waiting time to trigger new growth. Simeon waited his whole life to receive God’s promise. As he, at last, held the very Son of God in his arms, I doubt he regretted the pruning of one moment of unmet expectations.
Father, I pray this Christmas season that you would help us trust you in all our circumstances. Help us never stop believing.
Throughout the Day: Intentionally thank God for being with you in whatever waiting room you find yourself. Tell him you are going to trust him as you wait. Then commit yourself to keep believing in his promises.
Additional Resource: How to practice patience when God has you waiting