WATCHWORD:
14 Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14
2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. Isaiah 9:2,6–7
Meditation:
Waiting
Advent is a season of waiting. It’s a sacred season of waiting for the blessed Jesus to arrive. Celebrating His arrival in our lives, his forgiveness and the blessedness that He represents – God among us.
I wonder, do we sometimes test the Almighty? We may wonder why doesn’t God save me? Then I think, that one is on me. In truth, based on faith, He has accomplished and provided for my salvation and it is I that hasn’t entered into a relationship with Him. How about you? Do you sense a breach between you and the Almighty? A gap of neglect and spiritual laziness?
You may ask, why doesn’t God do everything we ask? He’s already done it. We need to take the blinders off of our eyes of faith and enter that personal relationship with Him. That is the first step, and it is ours to take. You accepted Jesus the Christ as Lord and Savior. It is time that we trust that and live our lives based on that trust.
Oswald Chambers in a recent devotional makes this statement: “All the great blessings of God are finished and complete, But, they are not mine until I enter into a relationship with Him on the basis of His covenant.” That is what we are talking about.
I think that waiting for God to act is a human form of unbelief. To a certain degree it shows that I have no faith in Him. I waited for Him to do something in me, something that would allow me to trust Him. Is that the problem? But God won’t do it because man must first embrace the relationship with God. It seems too often that we will not believe in God until he puts something tangible in our hands, a direct answer to our prayer in the words and terms we use. We want to see results so that we can say, Oh, now I believe. Welcome to the mind-set of the Pharisee. That is not you and it is not me.
God says, “Look to me and be saved” (Isaiah 45:22). So be it.
Advent Wisdom:
St. Augustine has something to say about this waiting period. “If God seems slow in responding,” he wrote, “It is because He is preparing a better gift. He will not deny us. God withholds what you are not yet ready for. He wants you to have a lively desire for His greatest gifts. All of which is to say, pray always and do not lose heart.”
In Spanish, the word for “wait” is esperar. But it is also the root of the word esperanza — hope.
Closing Prayer:
In this time of waiting, may we hold the world in our hearts.
In this time of waiting, may we hold each other’s hands.
In this time of waiting, may we be thoughtful and introspective.
In this time of waiting, may we delight in the darkness and all it teaches us.
In this time of waiting, may we rekindle the fires of hope, love, joy, and peace within ourselves and our communities.
In this time of waiting, may we become ready for the coming day. Amen.
