Waiting for Christmas is not easy. These days it is quite normal to have the lights, the carols, the mince pies and the crackers early. But what about the presents? I was told about a young woman who would give all the Christmas presents to her children early. She was not able to wait until Christmas. She bought the presents with the best of intentions of giving them at Christmas, but then she thought of how her children may appreciate such a gift, and gave one after the other early. After all, one early present, that’s not much; and another, and another…

I thought that this was somewhat strange behaviour, but was told that many young people cannot wait for Christmas, either to give or to receive presents. Apparently it is quite common to have Christmas presents early. Waiting is difficult. I think the problem is that Christmas itself then isn’t that significant of an event. It becomes just when the last of the presents get unwrapped and one big meal among many is consumed. In our world of instant gratification are we no longer able to wait?

Of course, there are many individual psychological factors at play in a person’s ability to delay gratification, to have patience and to wait. But it seems that we as a society overall have become less able to wait. Part of that, no doubt, is the drive to instant gratification by the advertising industry and through technology. After all, we have become so much more accustomed to getting what we want now.

Unfortunately when we can’t wait, we may also have difficulties waiting for the LORD. God can act in unexpected ways, but generally does not give us instant gratification. After all, during the time of Advent we remember the waiting of the people of Israel and our own waiting for Jesus to come in glory. How can we wait for God in our time?