The Bishop's Letter

Bishop’s Letter for October

Bishop David Hallatt writes:

“Waiting”

Frankly, I do find it difficult and usually frustrating! I always seem to be in the slowest queue at the checkout, the wrong lane in a Motorway hold up etc.

We are not patient people by and large. Waiting. We do a lot of it – and perhaps most of it is rather trivial, if frustrating. But for some people, their “wait” takes on a much more demanding aspect:

waiting for the right person to come along for marriage;

waiting – longing - for a baby;

the waiting of the innocent person wrongly accused, (still worse, imprisoned) perhaps for many years;

waiting for the results of a medical examination.

waiting immortalised by Martin Luther King when he said, “ I have a dream when everyone’s children will be judged by their character and not by the colour of their skin”.

Every one of us will have to wait – seriously – at some time in our lives.

• There is a lot of waiting in the Bible.
• Abraham waiting for his promised son.
• Israelites waiting for freedom from slavery
• 43 times in the Old Testament are people told to “wait”.
• Waiting for the Messiah to come.
• Jesus telling the disciples to wait for the gift – the Holy Spirit - His Father has promised them (and us). (Luke 24, v. 49).

Does it help if we recognise that what happens to us in the waiting is as important – perhaps more – than what we wait for!

In Isaiah 40 we read “ . . those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk an not faint.”

Sometimes we have that supreme moment when we feel like the equivalent of eagles – fantastic. For most of us, rare occasions, but truly memorable.

Most of the time we will be running – just keeping going with the everydayness of life.

And sometimes we shall be barely walking. But all three are equally important in God’s economy. And if I can only manage a walk, then I am in the best of company! For our salvation was won by Someone who simply walked – nay, stumbled, fell and picked Himself up again, - to a Cross.

+David