“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold (refuge) of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? … I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
– Psalm 27:1-2, 13-14
Wait for the Lord.
Isn’t that a phrase that both instills a sense of hope and peace but also makes you want to cross your arms, loudly tapping your foot repeatedly?
In a world filled with impatience and a propensity for immediate satisfaction, waiting can be really challenging. Not only does it force us to slow down, but it brings us to a place of acknowledging that we, in fact, cannot control it all, and I am sure that I am not alone in wanting to have some sense of control over the different areas of my life. It is a frustrating discipline: learning to wait. But so often, that Is how our Father works: in the quiet, in the slow, all in His timing.
But that, no doubt, can be very hard to do.
Sisters, I am with you in admitting that, without a doubt, waiting can be very hard for me to do well.
But I have seen, time and time again, that when God asks me to wait, it is almost always because His plan is greater; that He has something right around the bend that I never could have seen coming.
When we can learn to truly let go and trust God in our seasons of waiting — our seasons of not quite yet — we will be able to more confidently move forward, because we can know that He is on our side. We will have no fear, for we will recognize that He is with us. We will be strong, because it is in our own weakness and in His power that we are made strong. We will be courageous, because He makes us so. And along with all of that, we will find peace in the waiting, for we know that every season from our Father is intentional; every season has purpose, even the ones in which we wait.
Then, what does waiting have to say about Jesus?
The world was yearning for a Savior, for Jesus, long before He actually came; before He was born to a virgin and a shepherd in Bethlehem.
Think briefly of the Israelites, in their slavery, in their wilderness, in their coming to the promised land: they were almost always waiting, and often complaining in the midst. Much of the time, they were complaining about their circumstances, but maybe — just maybe — there was a deeper longing in their heart, a sense that they were lacking something. Maybe, deep in their bones, they knew they were missing out on a direct connection with their Abba Father, which was something that could only come through His Son. While it is true that waiting often accompanied their circumstances, there was a deeper, more profound waiting that they were living through: waiting for Jesus. How much more grateful can we be that Jesus did come over two-thousand years ago as God-incarnate; our hope and our salvation; our strength and our refuge.
Together now, we are anxiously awaiting the reminder of Jesus’ arrival. In this season of Advent, I hope that you are able to slow down, quiet your heart, and savor the wait. Because it is a sweet and worthwhile wait, my friends.
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