Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)
During the next four articles, leading up to Christmas Day, I would like to direct our focus to Advent, which means “coming” – that time of expectant waiting and preparation for the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as a baby in a manger and the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ as the Conquering King. Most churches use the four weeks leading up to Christmas Day to focus on the real meaning of the season.
Today we will sharpen our focus on waiting. As a child, the hardest thing for me was waiting for Christmas Eve, when we would be allowed to open one of our Christmas presents. After we had finished that annual family tradition, I had to endure the long night of counting sheep — on those nights I was probably counting reindeer — and waiting for what seemed like interminable hours until the sun came up and I could finally enjoy the one day that I waited every day of the year to arrive.
I’m much older now, but waiting is just as difficult for me today as it was a child, for a variety of reasons. And so I have to keep reminding myself that waiting is part of God’s perfect plan to mature each one of us and grow us up in our faith.
What have you been waiting for this year? Have you been waiting for God to do something in your life? The prophet Isaiah says, “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31 ESV). Isaiah gave us a beautiful picture of the source of our power. When you picture the eagle in flight, you see that this magnificent creature is completely dependent on the Lord, who gave the eagle its wings and provides the unseen currents of air on which it soars.
To wait upon the Lord is to live a life of dependence and trust in a power infinitely greater than our own. It is to trust God even when we cannot trace Him. It is to know that God’s will often requires waiting, because it is one of God’s great graces in our lives. And how are we to wait? We are to wait expectantly . . . hopefully . . . confidently . . . knowing that whatever we receive from the hand of our God is always what is best for us, and God’s best always does its best work in our lives when it comes to us in His perfect timing.
So as you are waiting for Christmas this year and waiting for God to answer your prayers, let the unseen currents of life’s pressures and pleasures, its challenges and charms, and its difficulties and delights lift you up higher and higher, trusting that your strength will be renewed by your Redeemer, moment by moment and day by day.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 