Folks, this was supposed to be for our ministry site, goodnewsaces.com, but I’m putting it here for now. I refuse to break my streak, is all.
I think it was around a week or two ago when I headed over to our local Land Transportation Office, to follow up on the registration of the family car.
See, I had this habit of getting to the said Office at the turn of the year, exactly a month before folks whose cars had plate numbers ending in 2 were actually scheduled to renew their papers. It’s a thing I like to do; just want to be sure I’m square with everything I could handle before the rest of the year kicks in. Well, turns out that back in January the Land Transportation Office (we’ll call it LTO from now on) had a lot going on. There was the updating in their current systems, which now required all of us who were renewing to register onto their new web application. Besides that, there were still health protocols that they were following, which had us go through a makeshift system. It was pretty simple, really – all we had to do was to make copies of our registration documents, leave them at the guard with a contact number, and wait for someone to text us.
Well, that text never came. First time I dropped by LTO, in addition to being drenched by the sudden afternoon rain (ah, Baguio weather), I was greeted with an extraordinarily long line. I decided to pay LTO a visit the next day, early-like.
So after dropping my Mom off at a breakfast with her friends I figured I’d park the car where she was meeting them. LTO was a brisk walk away, after all, and I should be done in a flash, probably even catch up for some breakfast of my own.
Boy, was I wrong. I thought I was early, but lo and behold – as I made my way into LTO territory again, I was greeted with the same long line I was hoping to avoid. Apparently there was just one dude in Window 1 who had to handle each and every walk-in registration inquiry. Took me 4(!) hours to get to him, only for him to give my papers back, and to wait for my name to be called in Window 7.
That’s it, I thought? No reference numbers? Nothing for me to hold on my end for me to know that I was on the queue? I asked the dude in Window 7, who promptly told me to just wait for my name to be called. Some system, I said. The 4 hour wait wasn’t so bad, because I knew where I was headed. This wait in Window 7, on the other hand… well, it got me a little worried, especially when I was seeing other people who I was ahead of in the queue for Window 1 go ahead of me at Window 7.
But praise God from whom all blessings flow, indeed. Window 7 finally called me after an additional 2 hours of waiting. I finally got the papers to prove the family car was registered for another year. See you in 2023, LTO. Also, nobody was around to get pissed at me while I simply drove away from the parking lot where the good ol’ Colonel (that’s what I named the car) was very patiently waiting.
I share this story only to point out the difference between the period of waiting in Window 1 versus my wait in Window 7. In the latter, I was pretty aggravated because I was waiting without any assurances. I also remember thinking I was to wait until LTO closing time if I had to, and if even then my name wasn’t called, I would complain. My inner Karen (who rarely pops up, mind you) was begging to take insecure action, but I’m just glad I waited.
Consider Black Saturday. The day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Consider what was going through the disciples’ minds. Peter was probably still crying for denying Christ three times. John and the others were probably in hiding. And Judas – well, Judas.
But I could imagine that one thing in common between all of the disciples (except Judas) was that in that Black Saturday period, they were having a Window 7 experience. What were they waiting for, if they were even waiting? What would they do now that Christ was crucified, His body lain in a tomb which was sealed and guarded? If they had the luxury of time to let their mind wander, they probably started asking questions – was all of this a waste of time? I saw Him do all sorts of awesome stuff, and I could vouch for all of that, but what now? Was I wrong to follow Him?
Friends, in this season we may have our own moments of waiting. Our own moments of impatience. Our own moments where we’ve been waiting and waiting, enduring and enduring, for what seems to be nothing. We’ve talked about Maundy Thursday, where we were encouraged to not only walk but to think in faith, not by sight – only because it’s faith that’s the only thing that would keep us going, no matter what the world dares to throw at us, and no matter how exhausted or drained we may feel.
This faith that we have gets us through Maundy Thursday by way of acting out of faith and not out of exhaustion, sure. But it’s in Black Saturday that we’re reminded that this faith that Christ authored into us would also have us waiting in earnest. Our all-knowing, all-powerful Creator whom we call Father works on His timetable, and we ought to keep reminding ourselves that His will which is beyond us is also beyond our timing, and is worthy not of spurning, but absolutely trusting.
We may not see any sort of assurances of what God is up to, but we ought to know that even when we don’t see or feel it, our good God is working, lovingly. Let this Truth of our God who works beyond time and space give us comfort in our own anxieties.
And as we wait on the Lord, behold – our youth is renewed, our strength is renewed like the eagles.
God bless us all.
JB's Personal Brain Defragmenter 
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