Waiting Patiently

My operation is now due to be next Monday. Which means that I will be resting over the Christmas period. This year there will be no long walks, runs or bike rides. Waiting for this operation to happen has required patience and could yet require further patience if the weather causes a further delay. I didn't feel cross with the hospital last week, I know it will happen at some point, hopefully next week.

Before next Monday the King's Carol services happen over the weekend. The carols services at King's are simply fabulous. Balancing traditional carols and readings with creative performance, dance and drama, it is a great Christmas event that works for both believers and unbelievers. I'm really looking forward to it!

Caring Christmas Trees requires patience. Customers don't buy trees when I most want them to. Sometimes the tree count ticks over quickly and at other times the count stubbornly refuses to change. Behind the scenes of CCT there are drivers and porters who deliver the trees to the sites and this year direct to customers homes. Last Friday I spent a couple of hours with this team organising the trees, bases and equipment and this requires great patience. But I love those mornings, the drivers and porters are really good guys and we work together to make Caring Christmas Trees a success.

I remember as a child in the days before Christmas being unable to contain my excitement and desperate for the day to arrive. But now I enjoy the days of preparation knowing that Christmas Day will arrive soon enough. This helps when I read the following bit of one of my favourite books in the bible, a section that I have grappled with for many years.

"For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently" Romans 8:24-25

For me, waiting for it patiently feels like an unsatisfactory way to wait. Surely it should read eagerly or with anticipation or with great desperation. However I have learnt that patiently communicates the total certainty that, for those who are in Christ, our hope is secure. It is not in doubt, it's not a 50/50 decision, not a will it happen or not type of waiting. It is as sure as Christmas Day will follow the 24th December. Patiently also communicates that God is above all, he is the architect of our lives. But patiently also means that we are constantly looking, eagerly watching and enjoying all of the journey towards the hope that is secure.