Advent. It means 'coming'. Something, or rather someone, amazing is coming and we are waiting expectantly.. ..excitedly.. ...impatiently.. ...thoughtfully.. ...reflectively.
We usually think of waiting in terms of waiting for something to happen or to start. My kids are getting very excited about Christmas and have been counting down the days. They are waiting for a magical day to arrive.
To be honest, my waiting experience is more to do with waiting for a home. Waiting to be settled somewhere at last after 10 months of living surrounded by boxes. Waiting to be able to put my own motherly, feminine touch on a place that we can finally call 'ours'. Last week we had to move again.....for the 26th time since we've been married. And I'm tired. We have another move scheduled for the end of January. And so we keep on waiting..... waiting for some bank to agree to lend us the money we need....waiting for that perfect, affordable house to appear on the market.
But waiting can also be about waiting for something to stop, to be over. Something unpleasant, difficult, stressful, painful. I know it's very minor compared to what many others are going through, but I'm still waiting to stop feeling sick! I'm 25 weeks through this current pregnancy, and the sickness has never gone on for so long. I know the end is in sight, I know it will stop eventually, but, again, I'm tired. Tired of waiting to feel 'normal' again.
Waiting. It's part of the Christian walk. The Bible tells us:
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27v14)
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. (Psalm 37v7)
In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. (Psalm 5v3)
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30v18)
Interestingly, when I looked up the instances of the word 'wait' in the New Testament, they were almost all about waiting for Jesus to return, waiting for heaven and for eternal life. Perhaps it's a symptom of our modern, consumer culture that we find ourselves waiting for 'things' rather than for a person. Like the child who is waiting for her Christmas presents rather than the celebration of God's greatest gift - His Son.
God is not slow to act. His timing is perfect. Our job is to trust Him and to be patient. In the Bible, Sarah ran out of patience and gave Hagar to Abraham so as to preempt God's promise of a son. Saul ran out of patience waiting for Samuel at Gilgal and went ahead and sacrificed anyway. In both cases the results were disastrous.
No, the lesson of Advent is that we are to wait....patiently, expectantly, trustfully. And we are to make sure that, even though we can enjoy and thank God for the material comforts around us, our eyes are still fixed on Jesus as we celebrate His first coming and look forward to His second coming.
Merry Christmas to you all!
Abide in Him!
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