An Advent Reflection

As a product of the fast-food, instant gratification age, waiting was not my forte as a child. When Christmas season rolled around, I was the first among my brothers to snoop for hidden Christmas gifts in my parents' house and at their business. Once my parents would leave the house I would often take Christmas gifts under the tree and gentle unwrap the gift to discover what was coming on Christmas morning. This became such a problem that my mother would use symbols or wrapping paper to distinguish between our gifts. We (my brothers and I) just could not wait.

God characteristically positions his people to wait on his promises. God is not a god of instant gratification. When God promised an heir to Abraham, Abraham waited 25 years for his son Isaac. Joseph went through 13 years of slavery and imprisonment before God gave him a position of leadership to care for his family during a famine. For 430 years Israel was in Egyptian captivity before heading toward the promised land. Throughout the period of the judges, God's people went through cycle after cycle of waiting for deliverance and God delivering. David waited some 15 years between his anointing as king and being crowned king with much of that time on the run in the wilderness from Saul. Israel was exiled to Babylon for 70 years before God would return them to the land. In every case, God was doing a renovating work in people for his glory and their good.

Waiting can be weary and hard. People we look up to in the Bible knew this. Failing to believe God, Abraham took action into his own hands, sleeping with Sarai's servant. While Joseph walked righteously before the Lord, the Lord took him through a season of hardship and waiting to be in the right place to care for his family during a famine. Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness as one generation who refused the voice of God died before entering the promised land.

These heroes of the faith often aren't so much different from you and I. They wrestled and struggled to wait on the Lord, just like you and I. They went through difficult seasons of hardship and affliction. Yet what sets them apart from others is that even in their weakness and moral failures, they trusted God's promises even if they waited on the Lord inadequately.

This is true in every aspect of our lives, including church. I recently read a church revitalization specialist say that health church revitalization takes around 7 to 10 years. Can you imagine that? In an instant world, this is quite shocking. You would think instant turn or at least within a few years. But this is often not how God chooses to do things in the church or in our hearts. Often it is a slow reformation of the heart.

After Paige and I were married, we took a work trip to Miami for Paige to attend a conference. I loved the buzz of Miami. One night, I decided to secure a reservation at a nice seven-course restaurant. (I spent more money on that meal than I could've ever imagined possible!) We sat and ate, one course after another. We lingered over each bite and each taste. The meal was not a grab-and-go; it was a culinary and artistic experience. The meal was enjoyed and taste profiles discussed. We lingered delightfully in the moment and experience.

The Lord's slow reformation of our heart is like going to a seven-course restaurant, not McDonald's drive-thru. God oftentimes takes his time, graciously and patiently and gently confronting us with our sin and transforming us into the image of King Jesus. The Lord wants you and all that you are for his glory and your good, and he's willing to take time shaping you into the person he desires for you to be.

Waiting is not passive; it's active. Our lives still move. Time does not stop. Our lives do not stop. When we wait, we ask God, "What do you want from me? How can I honor you today?" When we wait, we steward our lives looking for God in the details-- opportunities to trust and follow him or opportunities to share him with others or opportunities to allow him to work through us and so forth. When we wait, it's active. Waiting on the Lord is seeking the Lord and patiently following (obeying) his voice as he speaks and acts.

Let's not attempt to unwrap what God has for us before he gives it to us. Let us pause and wait on the Lord who gives good gifts in his timing.