Learning to Wait with Love: Lessons from the Christmas Story

The Christmas season brings with it a spirit of anticipation and waiting. During Advent, we prepare our hearts for celebrating Christ's birth, but this waiting period offers us profound lessons about patience, love, and how we journey through life with others.

What Does Biblical Waiting Look Like?

The Christmas story is filled with examples of people who had to wait on God's timing. Their stories teach us that waiting isn't just about enduring time - it's about actively engaging in the process with faith and love.

Zechariah's Long Wait for Answered Prayer

Zechariah, a priest serving in the temple, had been waiting and praying for a child with his wife for years. When an angel finally appeared to announce that his prayers would be answered, Zechariah's doubt led to an additional nine months of waiting - this time in silence, unable to speak until his son John was born.

His story shows us that sometimes our waiting involves years of faithful service and prayer, trusting that God hears us even when we can't see the answer coming.

Mary's Unexpected Journey of Waiting

Mary faced a different kind of waiting. As a young, engaged woman, she suddenly found herself waiting nine months to give birth to the Messiah. But her waiting extended far beyond pregnancy - she had to wait to see how God's promises about her son would unfold throughout Jesus' life.

The angel told her that Jesus would be great, that He would reign on David's throne, and that His kingdom would never end. Mary didn't see these promises fulfilled immediately. She had to wait and watch as God's plan unfolded over time.

Simeon's Lifetime of Anticipation

Perhaps the most remarkable example of waiting comes from Simeon, a righteous man who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he wouldn't die until he saw the Messiah. When Mary and Joseph brought baby Jesus to the temple, Simeon finally encountered the one he'd been waiting for his entire life.

Why Is Waiting So Difficult?

Most of us struggle with waiting because we want to jump to the end result rather than experience the journey. We focus so intently on what's coming next - the next promotion, the next phase of life, the next milestone - that we miss what's happening right now.

This tendency to rush throough the present moment robs us of opportunities to grow, learn, and love others along the way. The journey itself has value, not just the destination.

What Is Biblical Patience?

Biblical patience isn't passive resignation or powerless waiting. Instead, it's an active choice to fully engage with our current circumstances. True patience is "the capacity to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell as fully as possible the inner and outer events of our lives."

Patience as an Expression of Love

When Paul defines love in 1 Corinthians 13, he begins with these words: "Love is patient and kind." Patience isn't just a virtue we develop for our own benefit - it's a way we love others.

Throughout the New Testament, patience appears consistently in lists of Christian virtues:

• As fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)

• As clothing for the new creation (Colossians 3:12)

• As a characteristic Paul wanted Timothy to remember about his ministry (2 Timothy 3:10)

  
  

How Did Jesus Model Patience?

Jesus demonstrated remarkable patience with His disciples throughout His ministry. Even after performing miracles and teaching about His death and resurrection, the disciples would immediately argue about who was the greatest among them.

Rather than losing His temper, Jesus used these moments as teaching opportunites. He brought a child to His side and explained that whoever welcomes a little child welcomes Him. Jesus saw their immaturity not as an obstacle but as a chance to love them through patient instruction.

How Can We Practice Loving Patience?

Start Small and Be Specific

Rather than trying to become perfectly patient overnight, choose specific people and situations where you can practice patience. This might be:

• A family member who needs extra grace

• A coworker going through a difficult time

• A friend who needs someone to listen without judgment

Make Time in Your Calendar

If our schedules are completely packed, we have no capacity to wait with others. Look at your calendar and ask: Do I have any margin for being present with people who need patience and love?

Serve Outside Your Comfort Zone

Sometimes stepping into unfamiliar serving opportunities helps us see patience from a new perspective. When we're removed from our normal routines, we might discover new capacities for patience we didn't know we had.

The Difference Between Patience and Passivity

It's important to distinguish between godly patience and sinful passivity. Biblical patience involves active engagement - Simeon prayed and listened to the Holy Spirit, Zechariah served faithfully in the temple, and Mary said yes to God's plan.

Patience doesn't mean doing nothing while waiting. It means actively participating in the process while trusting God's timing.

Life Application

This week challenge yourself to practice loving patience in one specific relationship. Instead of rushing through interactions or trying to fix problems quickly, choose to wait with someone - really listen to them, be fully present, and see their journey as an opportunity to show Christ's love.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Who in my life needs me to wait with them patiently rather than rushing them along?

• What am I so focused on achieving that I'm missing the value of the present journey?

• How can I create space in my schedule to be available for others who need patient love?

• In what ways am I being called to wait on God's timing rather than forcing my own agenda?

The Christmas story reminds us that God's greatest gift came through a process of waiting, and that waiting can be an act of love both toward God and toward others. As we prepare our hearts for Christmas, may we learn to wait with the same faith, hope, and love demonstrated by those who first welcomed the Savior into the world.