This season of Advent, this time leading up to Christmas holds different traditions that build up fun anticipation. The excuse to eat a chocolate first thing in the morning when you open up that advent calendar; lighting a candle in the advent wreath; flipping through the Sears Christmas Wish Book as a kid (did I just date myself there?) and making that unrealistic wish list to pin on the fridge; pulling out the favourite Christmas baking recipes…
All these things help us look forward to the joy of the season to come.
The waiting that comes with Advent is fun because it’s finite. We know what’s coming at the end of our wait will be good, and we know exactly how many days we have left to wait for it. We know the end of the story! And it’s a good one!
But much of the waiting that occupies us in our every day is open ended. We wait for love and marriage without knowing if it will come. We wait for children without knowing whether we will conceive. We wait for justice. We wait for healing. We wait for that answer to prayer.
The hardest thing about waiting is not knowing when it’s going to end, if it is going to end. That kind of waiting brings questions often without easy answers. It’s in those challenging moments that we must again remember who we are waiting on and remember that we know the end of the story!
Advent doesn’t just mean “waiting” but also “coming”. And we know what is coming. Jesus! At Christmas. And everyday. And one day He will come again and restore and fulfill all!
While we wait, in the times of anticipation.. .and in the times of desperation… we also know he is coming. He has come. And He will come again.
As you walk through your own waiting, may the truths from Isaiah 40 encourage you...
but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Or as Maverick City Music sings in their song “Wait on You”...
I’ve got a promise I can hold in the middle of the struggle
God if you said it You’ll perform it
May not be how I want You to
But here’s what I’ll do
I’m gonna wait on You
I’m gonna wait on You
I’ve tasted Your goodness
I’ll trust in Your promise
I’m gonna wait on You
Song Link: https://youtu.be/K3TYG7Q_fj4
(Wait on You -Maverick City Music & Elevation Worship)
Written by Rhonda Elgersma