Bearing the Wait

how waiting for Christ fulfills us

This article is part of the Claritas fall 2023 issue, Stages. Read the full print release here.

By: Hannah Canales

My alarm went off at 6:45. I rolled out of bed, pressed snooze, and then rolled right back into bed. Ten more minutes, I thought to myself.

Ten minutes turned into twenty, and twenty turned into thirty, and thirty turned into being late for my 8 a.m. calculus class. I jumped out of bed, brushed my teeth, threw on some clothes, put on my headphones, turned on some worship music, and sprinted out the door.

Twenty more minutes. Twenty more minutes until I get out of French. I don’t hate French class. I actually really enjoy it, but sometimes it gets boring when I already know all the material. I keep looking at the time on my iPad instead of following the seminar. Twenty more minutes until I go to my favorite class: PSYCH 1101.

Thirty more minutes. Thirty more minutes until I get to eat. I check the Cornell Eateries app to see what’s on the menu at Okenshields for lunch. Yes, they have curly fries today! Oh shoot, I missed the last slide of notes. I put my phone away, but my brain isn’t absorbing any information. 

An hour more. I’m going to study for an hour more, and then I’ll reward myself with an episode of my favorite show. 

I’ll go to bed in two hours. I’m so exhausted; I can’t wait to sleep. 

That was yesterday, and today, I’m still waiting. I’m waiting for what? For the day to be over? For tomorrow to come? Just so that tomorrow I can wait for the next day to come? What am I ultimately waiting for? 

I’m waiting for something to happen that’s so good I don’t want to wait for anything else. But no “goodness” on Earth lasts forever: Nothing gold can stay. My favorite class always ends, the curly fries always run out, and my alarm clock always cuts my sleep short. These things are temporary, so when each “good” moment passes, I’m left waiting again. 

I’ll claim that the biggest problem of the century is boredom. I’m bored. You’re bored. We’re all bored. This is made evident by the fact that we’re all seeking something fun, something exciting, something new, something interesting, something that causes the right amount of chaos, something that makes us feel alive amidst the monotonous routine of daily life. 

However, we don’t know what we’re seeking. We don’t know what we’re waiting for. Let’s take for example Samuel Beckett’s classic play Waiting for Godot.

“What do we do now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s go.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“We’re waiting for Godot.’

“Ah!” [1]

We are the same. We keep forgetting what we’re waiting for. 

I don’t know about you, but I feel empty. I’m going through the motions in life, but I’m not feeling any emotions. I’m tired of waiting. And you know who also got tired of waiting? The two protagonists of Waiting for Godot.

“What do we do now?”

“Wait.”

“Yes, but while waiting.”

“What about hanging ourselves?”

We’re waiting for the next step in life, hoping it will somehow provide something novel amidst the monotonous routine of daily life. But these small “stages” of life never truly satisfy us, so we are always waiting for the next thing. 

Ten more minutes. Ten more minutes till I can buy a snack that’ll make me happy.

Three and a half more years. Three and a half years until I graduate. Once I stop studying and actually start working and make money, I’ll be happy. 

Do we ever stop and ask ourselves if we actually want any of these things? I don’t even know why I want everything I want. I just want to feel good. And “feeling good” is such a hard thing to describe. We can’t really explain why things make us feel good; we just feel it. But I think that every moment that makes us feel “good” only points to something greater, something that can actually sustain us, something for which we don’t have to wait. 

There must be meaning outside of ourselves because if we look to ourselves for meaning we won’t find it. No individual moment will fulfill us. Not even the sum of all the seemingly “good” moments I’ve mentioned will fulfill us.

Fortunately, even as material delights and fleeting moments come and go, there is one person who promises to provide an uncircumstantial joy if we center our lives around Him. 

Jesus. 

Luke 6:23 states “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven.” [2] When we put our faith in Jesus, we are tasked with waiting for God’s promise of His eventual return and our reunification with Him in heaven that will never disappoint like a too short night of sleep or today’s dining hall menu. 

I’m not saying that with Jesus we longer have to wait. Waiting is a universal human experience that no one can get around. And I’m not saying that now I enjoy waiting. I’m saying that because of Jesus, waiting is easier. Because despite all the earthly things I have to wait for, He’s the one thing that I don’t have to wait for. 

And those moments will remind you that, as dreary as it can feel sometimes, waiting can be good.

I want you to do a little experiment (and if it’s not possible, just think about it theoretically). Sit alone in your room for a couple hours. No technology, no books, nothing that can be used as a source of entertainment. Just sit and think. Your mind will probably drift to things you’re excited to do in the future and people you’re waiting to see. But as I’ve explored throughout this article, those things will not bring any resolution to our longing for something greater.

Now sit and think about Jesus. He’s right there next to you. Talk to Him. Praise Him. Notice how you don’t have to wait for Him. You’re satisfied—truly satisfied—because He is all you need. Once you “taste and see that the Lord is good,” as king David writes in Psalm 34, you’ll see that Christ provides an everlasting joy that doesn’t leave you waiting for anything else. [3]

Yes, it’s true that we still do have to wait for a perfect eternity with Him in heaven, a place where we’ll be in the presence of the fullness of God’s glory and won’t have to wait for anything else. But even now as I wait for that day in heaven, I’m satisfied knowing I have Christ in my life. And He is my assurance that that day will come.

Waiting is still going to be hard—that’s just the nature of waiting. But as you wait, I want to encourage you—as you’re sitting in class, eating lunch, or getting ready for bed—to focus on the everlasting joy you’ll receive in heaven. These moments will remind you that, as dreary as it can feel sometimes, waiting can be good. As Psalm 130 says, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” [4]

This article appeared in Claritas’ fall 2023 Stages Issue

Sources

[1] Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot, 1957. 

[2] Luke 6:23

[3] Psalm 34

[4] Psalm 130