Advent Day 1 :: Wait
“But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7)
If you’re anything like me [human], then you don’t like to wait for things. We want everything to happen in a blink of an eye. As the saying goes - time is of the essence! We become frustrated when things take longer than they should. It becomes even more irritating when our waiting has been brought about because of someone else’s actions.
We’ve entered into the advent season. It’s become an all too familiar season for many of us. The idea of waiting, slowing down, and being patient has all too easily been ruined. The joy of the advent season has been stifled. Tainted. We’ve boxed it up with everything else we have wrapped up during the holiday.
This season may not be as busy as usual - thanks to a global pandemic - but it has caused our hearts and minds to race. We’ve become filled with anxiousness, fear, shame, guilt, and restlessness. It’s stolen any ounce of joy we may have had left.
Let me challenge you - to wait.
I know, it is overwhelming. There may be a lot of questions pulling at you. Thoughts dancing around and not as nice as those sugar plum fairies we hear about this time of year. Plans may be ruined. Family time is not an option for some. Making ends meet may be a little harder.
Sit still. Be in silence. Find time to let your heart and mind catch up.
Waiting isn’t new to the Christian way of life. From the fall of creation to the first coming of Christ - the Redeemer of all creation - took hundreds of years. Imagine what Adam and Eve felt like waiting for a redeemer (more on that tomorrow!), From Malachi (the last book of the Old Testament) to Matthew (the beginning of the New Testament) was 400 years in itself. There was silence for 400 years. Not a word from God.
But in that time, God was not sitting back. He wasn’t twiddling His thumbs. He wasn’t scratching His head trying to figure things out. He had a plan, set in motion since the dawn of creation. As Isaiah penned in the 55th chapter,
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (vv. 8-9)
In God’s infinite wisdom his plan for redemption was being perfectly rolled out. Pastor Bob taught on the Lamb of God recently and he shared a little about God’s timing. He talked about Jesus reading from the scroll of Isaiah in the temple (Luke 4:16-30). It aligned with the passage telling the prophecy of the coming messiah - and Jesus, smiling I’m sure, sat as he finished reading it and proclaimed that it had been fulfilled in their hearing - that He was the One Isaiah was speaking about.
All the waiting had ended. The Messiah had come.
The beauty of it all is that God knew we would have a hard time waiting. Even the Jews sitting around Him had a hard time believing it. All this time waiting and they didn’t realize who was standing before them. All through Scripture He gives us encouragement and guidance while in the waiting. Take a look for yourself!
“But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;” (Isaiah 40:31)
“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” (Psalm 27:13-14)
“The LORD is good to those who wait for him,” (Lamentations 3:25)
“For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18)
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Psalm 62:5)
The list goes on. But hopefully you begin to see that God is in the waiting. God is in those still moments. In those times of silence. When our mind begins to race and our hearts grow weary. We don’t have to go far to find Him. He is there the whole time.
Advent begins the time of waiting. Waiting on the arrival of King Jesus. We know about his first arrival, and we understand He is coming again. But we need to know that He is there in the in-between. Our anxiousness and fear, our weariness and doubting is nothing new to Him. He knows and understands. He is there to listen, to comfort, to wait with us.
The question is, will you wait with Him?
Will you remain by His side? In the stillness. In the quiet. When everything seems to be falling apart. Or will you remove your gaze from Him and try to find your joy and peace, grace and love, in everything else around you?
Let us wait together. As the days and weeks travel closer to Christmas, let us cling to Him. My hope is to meet here, in this space, each day. To meditate on Him. To wait with Him.
Will you join me?
Further Reading: Psalm 40
Photo by freestocks on Unsplash
