A short time can seem an eternity to small children. Oh, those long December days as they wait with anticipation for Christmas morning!


Waiting can be tedious at the other end of life as well. Some older people have been watching and waiting for decades. We can scarcely comprehend the anticipation that must have built in the hearts of Simeon and Anna, the two devout Jewish seniors who were in the temple that day when the infant Jesus was presented there. Both of them had been longing their entire lives to see their Redeemer. Simeon was moved by the Holy Spirit to go to the temple that day, having a revelation that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. Anna, a widow who had lived and served at the temple for years, continually looked forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Neither of them knew the exact day or time, but God knew. “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son…” (Galatians 4:4). Their waiting – and the waiting of the whole world – was fulfilled in their lifetime, and in their presence!