Just moments ago, I sat here in irritated frustration while a
colored spinning wheel spun and spun and spun. It must have
been 30 seconds or so. An eternity, really, in Internet time.
I could barely sit still for the time it took to load a blank
page upon which to write.
We don't wait well, do we? In an age of instant access, we
expect everything from information to merchandise to arrive
within moments of being summoned. On those rare occasions
when we are expected to wait, we feel like we are wasting
time. And nobody has time to waste.
Earlier tonight, as I sat in the dark with a sleepy child who
did not want to let go of her day, we whispered about Advent.
"It's almost Christmas," she said. "We lit the first candle
and started the Jesse tree."
"Christmas is coming," I agreed. "It's Advent. But that means
we have a whole season of waiting before it's Christmas. We
have these weeks of getting our hearts ready. "
"I love the waiting," she murmured sleepily. "I love knowing
it's coming. I also love the lights. And the stories. I
really love Christmas stories."
Sarah loves the waiting; she notices the lights. She's 7, and
she sees the value of the season - at least she sees it as
well as a 7-year-old can.
There is value in the waiting - real, tangible value. God
asked His people to wait for centuries before He fulfilled
all His promises with a Baby in a manger. The whole long
history of salvation is the story of children being asked to
wait. God's story is a story of waiting, and waiting is good.
There is a big difference between joyful waiting and wishing
it away.
As we wait, we remember that God is the author, God has the
plan and God makes the promises. We trace the tale from the
first man to the root of Jesse to the carpenter's son, and we
see that God didn't hurry and He purposefully filled those
days of waiting with centuries of covenantal relationship
with His people. There is struggle in the wait and there is
triumph in the wait. The waiting has value; it is of great
worth.
My 7-year-old loves Advent. She loves the lights and the
lists and the anticipation of it all. She loves it, in part,
because she knows that this wait will end joyously, so she
waits in joyful, expectant, sincere hope. This is going to be
good. This is going to be Christmas. The time before the
feast? It's pretty good, too, because it's not an irritated
shifting from one foot to another until it's our turn in
line. Instead, it's the happy anticipation of a long-awaited
birthday party.
But what of the grown-up waiting? Do we trudge impatiently
through the waiting time or do we stop and blink in wonder at
the lights? Do we sigh and shrug and slouch a little under
the weight of the worry that comes with waiting or do we see
the value of the season of preparation? Can a grown-up wait
in joyful hope? Yes, he can. God wants exactly that for all
His children, even the ones with mortgages and mustaches.
We are waiting for Christ. We know He comes. We've read the
end of this particular story. We can relax into this season,
fully assured that our waiting will bring us to Christmas, to
the joy of the Infant Jesus.
There is yet another story, though, the story God is still
writing in our lives. Even as we know that we will celebrate
the birth of the Savior, we observe another Advent. We await
Christ's second coming. As we sweep our houses clean and make
all ready for the Christmas feast, so, too, we attend to some
spiritual housekeeping. We look upon the covenant that Our
Lord has had with His people throughout time, and we attend
to our relationship with Him and with the people He has given
to our lives.
It's not Christmas yet. It's not even the Christmas season
yet. It is Advent - time of waiting. These days of waiting
are rich with possibility. These are the days into which Our
Lord pours His grace in order to heal us, to help us and to
transform us into His own image. These days of waiting are
not wasted days at all. Resist the urge to hurtle through
them. Instead, unwrap the gift of them and redeem every
minute.
Foss, whose website is elizabethfoss.com, is a
freelance writer from Northern Virginia.