Waiting is always hard. You can smell those cookies baking. You watch the clock hands move. And it seems interminable. So you try to hurry it along. You open the oven before the cookies are done. You attempt to make the clock hands move faster by sheer force of will. But nothing works. Waiting is inevitable and difficult.

That’s why Jesus never just says, “Wait!” There was always something else. “Watch and wait.” Or, “Keep awake and be ready.” Waiting is not empty time. It is time for doing important work. We’re waiting for Jesus, for the kin-dom of God, for fulfillment. So our waiting is learning to live as though it is already here. We practice kin-dom living every day. Yet, we always know there is more. That’s what Second Thessalonians is telling us: Don’t assume we’re done; don’t assume this is the best it can get. We don’t wait with eyes closed, acting as if this life doesn’t matter because there will be a day when someone else sets it all right. No, we wait by working with the Spirit to build the someday that is coming.

We need a vision of what is possible. The someday we long for is fulfillment, the blessed community, the experience of love. When we get a taste of it, we can rejoice. We can comfort our hearts and take strength from that experience, that kiss of grace. We strive for more, for justice, for peace, and for mercy in this life. We can smell those cookies baking and wait with hope.