Wait

 "Wait for the Lord; be strong, take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14

    It delights me to say Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird have taken up residence in our back yard. 

    As I was peeling an obstinate orange the other day, I glanced out the kitchen window toward the nesting box where they live. There was Mrs. Bluebird peering out the round window, looking this way and that. She remained doing so for quite a while, so I began to ponder life from her perspective. 

    What must it be like to be the one who has to wait? She has a job to fulfill, tending the nest while the Mr. goes about searching for food, but her stance at the window seems to indicate a worried waiting. Perhaps she is asking herself, "What if Mr. Bluebird met with a predator, a hungry hawk or a sleek cat? What if he's laying in a ditch somewhere, the lifeblood oozing out of him? What if he never comes back? Then what?" 

    We who wait for the Lord Jesus are not unlike this little bird, are we? We're in our little corners of the world, tending our nests to the best of our ability, but then we start to wonder, "How long, Lord?" 

    I get tired of waiting.

    But, unlike Mrs. Bluebird, we have no reason to worry. Here's why:

• Jesus has no predators! "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." (Matthew 28:18) "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them by the cross." (Colossians 2:15)
• Death has no power over Jesus! "But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." (Acts 2:24) "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" (Luke 24: 5-6)
• Jesus is coming again! "From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Matthew 26:64) "'Men of Galilee,' they (the angels) said, 'Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'" (Acts: 1:11)

    Jesus has gone on to prepare a place for us. The reassurance he gave to his disciples is meant for us as well when he declared, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am." (John 14:3)

    

    In the meantime, we do not wait idly. We have a job to do: "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-20)

    

    Those baby birds in our care must learn what we already know before they fly off. 

"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the Master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose Master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions." Matthew 24: 45-47