Wait for It...
What are you waiting for?
Oh Advent! A season of full of expectations. For little expectations like calendars that hold a gift each day, or maybe for the expectant moments gathered with family and friends, or the special gift you've been hoping to receive all year, or for when the church swells with the sweet sounds of Alleluia and Holy, Holy, Holy!
Mary and Joseph were waiting the arrival of a tiny baby boy, the Savior of the world. During Advent, we have a chance to share in their story and join in the expectation.
Expectation - it's practically bursting at the seams with hope and joy!
But Waiting ... That's Different
Isn't 'expectation' just another way of saying 'waiting.' Yes, but waiting is ... different. When you think of 'waiting,' it doesn't conjure such happy, cozy images as 'expectation' does. I bet you think about waiting in the checkout lane at the store, or waiting for the car in front of you to realize the light turned green (it's been two seconds - GO already!), or waiting for results from the doctor.
Waiting takes time; an unknown amount of time. Waiting doesn't always have a destination either. Waiting can sometimes feel like you're wandering around in a desert. That image reminds me of Moses with the Israelites, waiting to be allowed into the Promised Land, or John the Baptist, alone in the wilderness waiting for the Messiah to show up.
Living in the capital of Haiti, recently has a similarity to living a season in the desert. The days of scheduled protests, turned into weeks... the weeks turned into months.
Months of waiting.
Waiting for a break to resupply the cabinets with crucial food and water.
Waiting for the city electricity to turn on so we might have enough power to charge our phones, or enough power to run oxygen machines at the hospitals.
Waiting for the Opposition to stop the constant protesting; waiting for the President to make a statement,
Waiting to see if today is safe to let the kids go back to school.
Waiting for the large protests to subside so the markets can open again,
Waiting for a break to just breathe.
Waiting on the Lord to dispense his justice against those who are continually oppressing the poor, exploiting the ignorant and giving hearts, crushing the ones who have no power to oppose.
Sometimes all this waiting... can feel though you've been forgotten by God. Why would He leave people to wander around lost, confused, searching? If He's got work to do and we are willing to do it... then why aren't we doing it? And why aren't we doing it right now??
What can we do? We wake with tired, worn hearts, and yet we find strength to continue the walking. We wait on the Lord.
"I need to hear You now; I need to know it's You. Standing on Your promises, I know Your words are true. You're bigger than what I see." Jesus I Believe - Big Daddy Weave
"Be still and know that I am God."
I have been in a season of waiting. Forced to stay home (for weeks on end) changed my perspective. I was distraction free, forced to slow down to a grinding standstill, like the streets in Port au Prince.
This opened up a space for me evaluate what I was doing (in my life.) Do I stay in Haiti to show solidarity, even though I can't be of help? Should I wait a little longer; maybe the protesting will stop and everything will go back to normal? How long do I wait? Is this what God has planned for me? Is there more for me?
As I sit and write this from the United States of America, I am still. I am waiting for the Lord. I am patiently learning obedience. I wait to learn where my next steps will be. I am not worried in this season because God is faithful and ever-present. He expects me to be obedient during the wait. He carried me from one season to a next. I have seen time and time again that His promises will bloom into fruition.
I am expectant for when God moves...
When You're Waiting
When you recognize that you are in a spiritual desert, waiting on the Lord, use that time to stop and observe how God is orchestrating His glory in this world. Take note how the pieces you see coming together; how people are being moved into action. Where do you see the work of the Spirit? Because when you are waiting, you are still -
you can spot Immanuel, God with us.
