Just five more sleeps. Any parent of small children knows exactly what I mean.

When they were younger, our boys had a calendar with 25 pockets. Every day we would move the mouse to the next day, counting down to Christmas morning.

One year, my youngest got the idea that he could speed up the process by moving the mouse more than once in a day. We had to stress to him that this would not work. He had to be patient.

Patience. Oh, what a difficult concept! Waiting is never easy. And yet the Bible has much to say about waiting.

Consider this: The very first promise God gave concerning the Messiah was in Genesis 3:15. The coming one would bruise the serpent’s head. Then, writing 800 years before Jesus’ birth, Isaiah spoke of the coming Messiah in several places in his book. And still the people had to wait.

And now we have been promised that Jesus will come again. In John 14, Jesus promised, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself.” That is as clear a promise as you will ever hear. The Lord is coming back.

And yet, it has been 2,000 years since that promise was made. Can we trust it? Can we trust the one who made it?

Peter answered that in one of his letters when he wrote, “The Lord is not slow concerning his promises … but is patient toward us, not wanting any to perish.”

Do you get that? The reason that the Lord tarries is so that we can tell more people, and they can come to faith in Jesus.

The first coming of Christ is the reason for Christmas. We celebrate his lowly birth. But then we also anticipate his return. And we wait patiently, confident that God does not lie. We trust, even when it is hard.

The next five sleeps will be difficult for young children. They can hardly wait. But until he comes again, we all can hardly wait.

Be patient. He’s never lied. He will keep his word.