Read Revelation 3:20-21.
I once waited four hours for my dad. I was 16, alone, a long ways from home, and very gifted in personal anxiety. It was an anxious wait and when he drove up, he was alive, happy to see me, apologizing for being late, and treating the whole affair as if he had been five minutes late to pick me up from football practice.
Five decades came and went and dad’s body was in steady decline. After years of fighting the inevitable, he moved onto the memory care floor of a care home. I visited him four times in six months and it was hard to watch his decline. It was far worse than waiting alone on a street corner at 16. Far worse.
I was set to visit him in a week when I got “the call” from my sister. Dad was going down. I told my wife. We cried. I sat silent. Then I called the airline to change my ticket, but they couldn’t get me on a flight for another two days. I called my sister back and urged her to tell Dad that I was coming and to wait for me.
I arrived two days later and put my hand on the forehead of my frail and failing father. He opened his eyes. He was insanely frail. His color was terrible. I gripped his hand. He gripped mine with a surprising strength.
"I'm here Dad," I choked out. He looked straight into my eyes and his eyes filled with tears. He formed words with his mouth, but could not vocalize them. He looked at me with pleading eyes, and I said with my greatest earnestness, "I love you, Dad."
Dad smiled. He closed his eyes in fatigue or unconsciousness. I stood there holding the emaciated hand of my failing father. It was the last two-way "conversation" we had. Dad waited for me for two full days.
Listen, if you are waiting for your Dad, do not give up on Him showing up. And, if He is waiting for you, get there as quick as you can. Today He may be knocking on your door. If so, let Him in.
Father, we love You. Thank You for patiently waiting on us to let You have our hearts. Amen.