Have you ever heard the advice, "if you don't know what to do, wait?" I don't know about you, but wait is one of my least favorite words. When I'm seeking an answer, there's an urgency in why I'm asking the question. When I'm seeking direction, there's a timeline in which I need a response. Waiting for what I think I need is torturous!
Ironically, my favorite season of the year is Advent. A season of preparing for Christmas. A season of celebration, hope, peace, joy, & love. But did you know that advent is also the season of waiting? Pastor Joel Solomon summarized it well when he said, "Advent is not four weeks of Christmas. It is rather, a season of hopeful, aching, and watchful waiting amidst the very conditions--depravity, disease, division, despair, death--that made Christmas necessary at all."
Advent is about waiting for God to fulfill His promises. In Christianity, it's the rich reminder of a season of waiting and longing for a Savior; of the promise God gave that He would rescue His people, and the waiting that lasted for hundreds of years, culminating in the Christmas celebration of that Savior. Advent is a reminder of the waiting season we still endure. And within the waiting we find four themes: hope... peace... joy... and love!
But that doesn't make the waiting easy. The waiting season is still oh so painful. Yet the hope we find in waiting makes it worthwhile. The peace we find in waiting makes it endurable. The joy we find in waiting makes it enjoyable. And the love we find in waiting makes it all worthwhile.
Scripture is packed full of encouragement to wait on the Lord. Verse after verse admonishes us to wait. "I will wait on the Lord. My soul does wait, and in His word, I hope." (Psalm 130:5) "Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage as you wait on the Lord." (Psalm 27:14) "I waited patiently for the Lord and He turned to me and heard my cry." (Psalm 40:1)
Scripture shows us time and again that those who wait are not alone in their waiting. And yet, the waiting season can feel very lonely. When we are looking for an answer and not seeing the direction we need, it's easy to lose hope, or even turn again the One we trust. I love how Isaiah 40:27-31 describes this position in The Message paraphrase:
"Why would you ever complain that God has lost track of time? That He doesn't care what happens to you. Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts! He is Creator of all you can see or imagine. he doesn't get tired out, or pause to catch His breath. He knows everything inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people get tired. Even those in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait on God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles. They run and don't get tired. They walk and don't lag behind."
Are you in a season of desperate waiting right now? Great! You're in good company. I pray that as you wait, you feel the company of all of us who are waiting alongside you. I pray you feel the Lord's presence give you "fresh strength" as you lean into His loving goodness. May we wait on God together and declare that in the Advent season, there is hope for the desperate. There is peace in the turmoil. There is joy in the pain. And most of all, there is love for the broken.
Come thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free
From our fears and sins release us
Let us find our rest in Thee
Israel's strength and consolation
Hope of all the earth Thou art
Dear desire of every nation
Joy of every longing heart
"Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" (Hymn)
~Charles Wesley, 1744
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