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UMC20241106 - Holy Waiting

I have finally signed a contract for a new role at school! This role is a mixed role of teaching and working with the software team to implement tools that (hopefully) make teachers’ work more effective. While there’s been excitement in the lead-up, there’s also been anxiety and, most of all, waiting—a lot of waiting. It’s been almost a year since negotiations began, and during that time, there were long weeks without updates, and more weeks of not knowing whether to prepare for a new season or keep going in the current one. I often felt neither here nor there.

During this time, I kept returning to the parable of the ten virgins. In it, five virgins are called foolish for not bringing extra oil for their lamps, while the other five do and are called wise. In their waiting, the bridegroom “is a long time in coming,” and eventually, they need to refill their lamps. The unprepared virgins leave to buy more oil, but while they’re gone, the bridegroom arrives, and they miss out on the banquet.

The parable teaches us about Holy Waiting. Throughout scripture, we hear similar calls to wait: “The days are coming when…”; “The kingdom of heaven is at hand…”; “The creation waits in eager expectation…”; “The time is near…”.

Holy Waiting isn’t idle; it’s a disciplined, hopeful state that combines expectation with acceptance of God’s unknown timing. Theologically, Holy Waiting ties to eschatological hope—a long-term vision grounded in God’s promise of reconciliation and redemption. Though we don’t know the "when" or "how" of God's plan, we prepare to participate in it, even when specifics aren’t yet clear.

Is there something you are waiting on? How can you enter into a state of Holy Waiting on God?

Love, Cliff

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