"16 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. 17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. 18 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.”
- Malachi 3:16-18
Have you ever had to wait for something you were longing to see become a reality?
We wait for the day we get to head off to school. We wait for the day we can legally drive a car. We wait for our graduation and that letter in the mail that tells us whether we were accepted to the university of our choice. We wait for that first job offer. We wait for the right person to share our life with. We wait nine months to see that tiny face and hold our bundle of joy. We wait for retirement and grandchildren and time to do all the things on our bucket list. We even wait anxiously for the Lord to call us home to see our Savior face to face. So much of life is spent waiting, it is easy to feel like time waiting is time wasted. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Malachi was one of God's prophets after God's people were released from captivity and allowed to return to their homeland. They rebuilt the walls, rebuilt the temple, and their hearts were being rebuilt, but things weren't the same. They were no longer their own sovereign nation, no longer had their own king, and it seemed like they were continually waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled. Some were beginning to lose faith in the midst of the wait. Since they weren't seeing God’s handiwork, they assumed He had forgotten them. God told Malachi the opposite was true. Time waiting wasn't time wasted. God saw, God remembered, and He recorded every deed of those who waited faithfully. One day He would honor them.
As you hang your ornament, remember, anytime you are waiting, God is preparing you and your future circumstances. Waiting is never wasted. There isn’t a moment of faithful waiting He won’t remember and reward!