“But now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You.” (Psalm 39:7 ESV)
Thanksgiving has come and gone. The last of the kids home from college have packed up backpacks and fresh-laden laundry bins and returned to their respective campuses on Saturday. The house is still again. Lights twinkle on the tree and stockings are laid out but giggles and stories are absent. There are no school concerts or church pageant practices to attend to this year. The winter-time flurry of childhood wonder has come and passed all too quickly. But still, it’s Christmas. Christ has come and He’s coming again. And thankfully, Advent reminds me to wait with joyful anticipation even as the seasons change. Nothing is constant in this life save for the covenant and character of God.
Advent refocuses my soul. Last night as the dark crept in, we lit the first candle and remembered to hope. For me, this Christmas countdown is still an annual rhythm: a once-a-year reminder to slow my soul and enjoy the tension of Christ’s promised return. In the weeks before Christmas, we consciously retrieve the truth about how Christ came to earth in His first coming and we stoke hope for His second coming.
Advent involves holy and focused waiting. No wonder we’re bad at it. We don’t typically like waiting. Our culture is adamantly opposed. Fast food and on-demand streaming have conditioned us: any delay is disruptive. The colored spinning pinwheel on any screen is infuriating. We want it our way right away. Anything less is pure torture. And yet, this is not the ethos of the Kingdom.
I wonder, why, on earth, are we so opposed to waiting? Why do we rage against it? If we are honest; waiting is uncomfortable. Even boring. It *feels* unproductive. Wasteful. Foolish. Yet waiting is so often God’s prescribed course of action. Even His only Son was subject to the discipline of waiting: waiting to begin His ministry, waiting to reveal His Sonship, waiting for the cup to pass, waiting to die on a cross. Waiting with hope for an unlikely or even impossible outcome appears to be an important and rewarded principle in the Kingdom.
“but they that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV)
According to scripture, waiting on the Lord actually makes us stronger. Marking time towards God resets our vigor and collects momentum. Quite literally, stopping to catch our breath is how we discover our second wind! (Hint: the Holy Spirit has everything to do with this.)
So in the weeks before Christmas – whether your house is full of littles or stretched-out empty – we all face the same choice. We can rush and fret and push our way toward a holiday with little or no impact on our souls OR we can make room for the Savior by taking time to wait and thus experience this Christmas with intention.
For me, this year, the choice is obvious. Our home is slow and our pace is restful. Rather than feeling sad or forgotten or displaced, I’m electing to wait on the Lord in prayer, scripture reflection and intentional worship. I’m embracing the stillness and leveraging it for God’s glory.
December 25th will arrive either way, but will our soul be ready?
“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the Soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” (Lamentations 3:25-26 ESV)
Lord, forgive us for our impatience. Help us learn to wait on You with surety and gladness. As it turns out, good, God things come to those who wait. Strength, endurance and more of Your Spirit. All things we long for. Make us good waiters. Let this advent season remind us of Your past miraculous provision and convince us of Your future faithfulness. We want to wait well as we put all our hope in You. Amen.