Advent Waiting in All Things

Although much improved over the years, waiting is not something I do well. While waiting often holds eager anticipation for a soon happening event, it also carries a negativity of delayed gratification. Even worse, it sometimes shrouds uncertainty in the desired outcome happening at all. But Advent waiting revealed a valuable truth to me applicable for all things.

Waiting well means our Hope is not in the outcome, but in the sovereign faithfulness of the Author of our story.

Much of our impatience in the wait originates in our lack of faith in God’s ultimate goodness and confidence in His Word. Advent waiting creates a stillness within which we refocus our attention on and ground our Hope in God’s immutable consistency.

advent waiting in the dark

I wonder how Israel felt during the four-hundred years of silence from the end of the prophet Malachi’s word from God to the Word becoming flesh?

Perhaps it felt much like Matthew expresses in Matthew 4:16:

“the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”

Darkness and the shadow of death: unseen, unheard, forgotten.

Or maybe it felt like the disappointment and broken dreams of decades of unanswered prayer held by Zacharias and Elizabeth, longing for a child, yet now beyond childbearing years. (Luke 1:5-7)

The scripture clearly states they were righteous, blameless, serving God faithfully many years, yet they held the regret and disappointment of a lost desire.

Do you, like me, have places in your life where you served and obeyed faithfully, yet God seems deaf to your deepest longings or prayers?

What does Advent waiting look like in these dark, seemingly hopeless places?

advent waiting in silence

Every one of us hold unanswered prayers.

Prayers for healing, unsaved loved ones, broken relationships, provision which never seems to come. Perhaps like Simeon, a devout Jew faithfully looking for the Messiah (Luke 2:25-33), you wait day after day, as days turn into weeks, months, and years, yet the word or sign you long for never comes.

God’s silence often invites doubt, uncertainty, and thoughts of His displeasure with us.

In a society bent on instant gratification, I often feel God’s silence means a resounding “NO”, yet more often it simply means His timing differs from mine.

What does Advent waiting look like in seasons of God’s silence?

advent waiting in all things

While much of our waiting is “open-ended”; Advent orients us to a more finite waiting.

But what if we viewed our open-ended waiting in all things in the same way we view our Advent waiting?

Henri Nouwen said,

“Advent is not like waiting for a bus to arrive. Rather, it is an active waiting in which we live the present moment to the full in order to find there the signs of the One we are waiting for.”

Advent invites us to prepare our hearts for receiving more of Christ with each year’s Christmas celebration. But it also invites us into the joyous waiting for His soon return.

Our waiting for Christ fills our hearts with Joy and Hope because by faith we believe, as God’s people long ago, in the certainty of His Coming.

How would waiting in the dark, silence of disappointments, broken dreams, and decades of unanswered prayer look if we shifted our waiting perspective to one of certainty?

hope in the waiting

Though like Zacharias and Elizabeth we may wait beyond what seems possible, if we shift the focus of our waiting from that for which we wait, to waiting for God in our circumstances, we find unquenchable Hope.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

From Zacharias’ reaction at the angel’s appearance in Luke 1:12, I imagine both he and Elizabeth ceased looking for their desired child, instead looking for the Child, the promised Messiah.

Yet the angel’s first words bring renewed Hope to Zacharias, though at first, he failed to believe.

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.” (Luke 1:13)

We have the same Hope. God hears every one of our prayers.

“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” (Psalm 56:8)

“Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:17-18)

When our situation seems hopeless, or we sit with what feels like nothing but broken dreams, the knowledge that God hears us, shifts our perspective from waiting for a desired outcome to waiting for Him.

advent waiting in joyful hope

As we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ this Advent, welcoming Him in new ways into our lives, may we likewise with joyful anticipation wait for His perfect timing in the fulfillment of our desires, dreams, and prayers.

As the video below asks, “What if you were waiting for something that would change your life?”

God’s people experienced life transforming change when they welcomed the Messiah over 2000 years ago. As you wait this Advent for Christ to come into your life in new, more intimate ways, prepare your heart to wait for Him in the dark, silent, broken places too.

This Christmas season embrace the Hope found in knowing with the birth of Christ, God reminds us He keeps every promise.

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