Waiting for the Greatest Gift

“But when the right time came, God sent his Son…”

Galatians 4:4

As a child, I couldn’t wait for Christmas. Christmas Eve was always pure torture. From the twinkling Christmas lights to the sweet, warm smell of sweet potato pies, the night before Christmas felt more like a balloon filled with pure joy and excitement, ready to burst before midnight. Growing up, my parents had a rule that we had to wait until Christmas Day to open presents, and this didn’t mean Christmas morning. It meant we had to wait until mom and dad were ready, the Christmas story was read, and everyone was in the living room. Imagine waiting an entire day being haunted by shiny, wrapped objects under the fireplace, wondering and hoping that one of them has just what you prayed for, and now the day you’ve been waiting for has finally come, and yet you still find yourself waiting! 

Waiting is a human struggle. No one likes to wait. In fact, waiting isn’t even necessary in today’s world. If you want your food warm, there’s a microwave that will do the job in seconds. If you want cash from your bank, there’s a machine that lets you get it in minutes. If you want to send a message to a friend, you can do it in microseconds. The world we live in today moves so fast that waiting feels increasingly intrusive and even strange. But what if waiting is what we really need during a season where life is just super busy and everything is moving fast? What if waiting is a gift? 

The people waiting for the Messiah during those silent 400 years also had to wrestle with waiting. Their humanity and impatience had to get the best of them at times. Waiting for 400 years for God to fulfill a promise and never hearing a word about it had to be extremely difficult, if not devastating. Yet between the books of Malachi and Matthew are 400 years of silence, wondering, wrestling, and waiting. Then, at the right time, it happened. “But when the right time came, God sent his Son…” (Galatians 4:4). Through all those years of waiting, God was uniquely masterfully and sovereignly preparing the greatest gift for all of mankind. 

Christmas time is a reminder that sometimes waiting can be a gift itself. Maybe this holiday season, you haven’t gotten everything you’ve hoped for, or maybe there is still one wish left on your Christmas list. Friend, don’t give up hoping and waiting. Allow God to use this season of waiting to draw you closer to Him and to point you to the greatest gift of all – Jesus! 

Questions for Reflection: 

1. Recall your own Christmas Eve as a child—what sensory detail (lights, smells, sounds) made the wait feel like “a balloon ready to burst”? How does that memory stir your heart now?
2. God’s greatest gift arrived only after centuries of waiting. Where in your life is God asking you to trust His timeline rather than demand your own “Christmas morning” now?
3. How might this season’s unanswered wishes or prayers be drawing you closer to Jesus rather than to the thing you want? What is one way waiting is reshaping your prayer life?
4. What specific hope on your Christmas list (or life list) feels stalled? Offer it to God in a one-sentence prayer of surrender.