Jesus Is Worth the Wait
Psalm 130:5 – I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.
Before a single light twinkled on the tree, Jeannine set a small wooden manger on the coffee table. Nothing inside it but straw.
Her four little ones tore through the house, loud and curious.
“Where’s Mary?”
“Where’s Joseph?”
“Where are the animals?”
Jeannine just smiled and told them everyone was still on their way.
She wanted her children to feel the story, not just hear it. So she tucked the nativity pieces all around the house—behind books, under dish towels, perched on windowsills—each one waiting for its turn to move.
Every day, the figures inched closer to the stable. The kids checked on them like detectives, noting even the tiniest shift.
Before long, the slow journey became more than a game. It became a way for the whole family to enter the story—step by quiet step—feeling the waiting and the longing that God’s people carried for generations before the Messiah arrived. Every movement built anticipation. Every pause whispered that some promises unfold slowly.
Scripture describes waiting on God in the same way: not as passive or powerless, but as hope with its eyes wide open.
“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.” — Psalm 130:5
Waiting isn’t losing time. It is trusting that the God who promised is still at work, even when we can’t see movement.
On Christmas Eve, after the children finally drifted off to sleep, Jeannine placed the tiny baby in the manger. She rested her hand on the roof of the little stable and let the weight of that moment settle in.
And on Christmas morning? The kids flew right past the presents and ran straight to the manger. Their joy was bright and unmistakable. There He was. And somehow the waiting made His arrival feel even sweeter.
Every year since, Jeannine still sets up that slow-moving nativity. There’s something about those “we’re almost there” days that has changed them. The journey is no longer frustrating—confident hope is stitched into their hearts as they wait.
So how about you? Is there any area of your life where you feel like you are still waiting for God to move? The waiting is not wasted. Like Jeannine and her kids discovered, Jesus always arrives right on time—just as He promises.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
- Where in your life right now do you feel like you’re waiting on God?
- How might you shift your waiting from frustration to hopeful expectation?
- What promise from Scripture can you hold onto in this season?
