This morning I taught a Zoom class for a conference in India. Today’s lesson was part of a longer series on how Messiah Yeshua/Jesus modeled the life of faith for us. I focused on the “lost” eighteen years of His life, the silent years in the gospels. There is so much speculation about those “quiet” years. It is suggested by some that he even traveled to India and studied with the gurus there, however this was not the case.

The “quiet” years were His waiting years; but waiting does not mean He was inactive. During those years, Yeshua/Jesus lived a normative Jewish life for His time, filled with family, community, and covenant. He learned, He prayed, and He traveled to work as a laborer (carpenter) where He was needed. Remember, He is identified as “the carpenter” (Mk. 6:3), and as the son of the carpenter (Matt. 13:55; Mk. 6:3). This was hard work. Yet, it allowed Him to see and experience the sights and sounds of His people, their lives, their struggles, their joys, and their faith. He learned to speak with them, relate to them, and wait with them.

Still, Yeshua was aware of His own wait, we do not know how specifically, but He was, as we read in John 2:4, 7:6 and 7:30 statements expressing: “His time had not yet come.” He had to wait for the time appointed by the Father to begin His ministry.

Many of us are waiting, have been waiting, or know what it is to wait upon the Lord’s timing. One lesson that we often overlook from Jesus is His wait. His faithful wait teaches us how to wait faithfully. As Jesus waited: He lived, He learned, He labored, He worshiped. He didn’t sit and brood. He remained faithful to the Father during years of waiting.

It can be a frustrating experience, especially when we believe we are ready to advance in the race. I submit, if we find ourselves frustrated, self-isolating, questioning Him and His love, and jealousy takes root in our hearts for how He is using others, then He is still preparing (conforming) us as we wait.

However, the wait is NOT inactive. We are still about our Father’s business, as we are called to be faithful in all things: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much” (Lk. 16:10).

We should remember these three things while we wait: 1) we are not separated from Him in the wait; 2) the wait is always active; 3) we must celebrate His control even in the wait (Thy will be done…).

I acknowledge the struggle of waiting, but I rejoice in His wisdom. To be transparent, I am grateful that what I believed I was prepared for years ago He did not permit me to enter, as He knew the depth of difficulty to come that I was not prepare for. His timing, not ours, is perfect. As the psalmist encourages: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…” (Ps. 37:7).

Jesus gave us the example during those eighteen “quiet” years living as a laborer, doing those menial tasks that few consider, even while “increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” He did not rush His calling, or the broadening of His calling, and neither can we. We trust and serve the Lord as He has sets us in each season of our lives.

I pray this encourages you in your wait.

Maranatha. Shalom.