(Written in October, 2023)
In two days we will attend a service that we had been waiting so long to attend: Our oldest son’s graduation with a PhD in Chemical Engineering.

Of course it isn’t his first graduation. He graduated from his undergrad program in 2016, and he graduated again with his Master’s degree in 2017; and now, in just a few days, he will have his PhD.

This means that since graduating from High School in 2011, our son has pursued higher education for almost 12 years, with only a few months off between degrees! That’s a LONG time to be in school!

And of course, if we think back further, he was in school for 13 years prior to pursing higher education. That means that he has spent 25 years of his life in school!

He actually officially finished his degree back in May of 2023. It was too late, however, to attend the spring graduation, and besides, he wasn’t even in the country at the time, so he was scheduled for the fall graduation, in late October.  This means, then, that in addition to waiting 25 years to receive his diploma, he has had to wait an additional 5 months as well! And he can’t get the work permit he needs for his upcoming job until he has that diploma in hand!

But the wait is finally coming to an end…

Or is it?

I have to admit, I’m not overly excited by the thought of attending his graduation. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am so proud of him and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. But our experiences with previous graduations have taught us that we sit and wait a VERY LONG time before our son’s name is called, and after he graduates, we sit and wait another VERY LONG time for the rest of the graduates to receive their diplomas!

It will be worth it though. All those years of schooling will cumulate in this one afternoon, and with the well-earned and long-awaited diploma in hand, he’ll soon be able to start the dream job that he’s been offered.

In this life, we do a lot of waiting. In fact, almost every good thing in life requires waiting. We wait to be old enough to drive. We wait to be old enough to get married. We wait in long lines and in waiting rooms for appointments, food, rides, etc. Hey! We even wait 9 months to be born!

It all makes me think about something else that every Christian is waiting for: Jesus’ second coming!

The early church awaited this with baited breath! They even often referred to their day and age as the “last days”: “but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:2 NIV See also 1 Peter 1:20; 1 Corinthians 10:11). Yet still they all waited.

I don’t know when Jesus will return. No one does: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36 NIV). And if someone gives you an exact date of Jesus’ return, flee from them, for they are not factoring in Matthew 24:36! But we do know that time is short. Turning on the news confirms this, for all of the signs of “birth pains” that Jesus described in Matthew 24 are our current reality! Check it out: “For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:5-8 NIV).

And yet we wait…And the faith of many grows cold… Jesus expected this. He even said, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8 NIV)

We thought our son would never finish going to school and get a job. But after all those years of waiting, here he is, graduating in two days with his dream job awaiting him. Just because it didn’t happen when we thought it would didn’t change any part of reality: He will graduate, he will have his first job. And in the same way, Jesus will return. Whether we still believe it or not, whether we are awaiting it with baited breath or not, whether we desire His return with all of our beings or not, He will return: “…when the Son of Man comes…”.

So what do we do in the meantime?

The same thing we did when waiting for our son to graduate! We believe in Jesus’ return, we await it with baited breath, we desire it with all of our beings. And then, one day, just like our son will graduate when the time is right, Jesus will return.

Are you ready? If you haven’t given your heart to Jesus, why not do it now? Click here if you’d like some help!  

If you’ve already given your heart to Jesus, then your job while waiting is to further the great commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20a NIV)! 

By the time you read this, the graduation will have been over for a year. If any of you remember hearing a distant victory cry around the 21^st of 2023, you now know what it was: It was my family rejoicing! Can you image the victory whoop that will rise with Jesus return?

Inspired by Rob Chaffart
Founder, Answers2Prayer Ministries