Waiting

Waiting ... I don't like. That's probably not what I'm supposed to say (seeing as how "patience" is a fruit of the Spirit, evidence that God is working in your life). And, I don't believe it's because I've been coddled by a culture that now provides drive-up windows for just about everything. In the Western world, we've been taught and told in many ways that it's up to me/you. I've been encouraged to trust is my own ability and to deepen my stick-to-it-iveness for that very reason ... it's up to me. There's something pretty deep inside each of us that understands where I'm coming from. When was the first time you told your mom or dad, "no! I do it myself!"? Whether it's your struggle or not, I own it ... I hate to wait.

So you'd think Advent would be a stretch for me. Advent is that season of preparation and waiting all at the same time, believing God's promise of Love coming to us as Savior and Friend is a true and dependable promise ... even before we see Him in that manger or feel Him in our hearts. Advent is glorious to me! So, it grieves me when our church families want to sing the Baby Jesus right into the manger from the get-go. What's your hurry? O.K., so we know more Christmas hymns than we do Advent hymns ... learn some new ones. And, learn to wait.

Shauna Niequist released a book about a year ago Cold Tangerines. The first chapter of that book was an honest confession that much of her early life was waiting for life (as she hoped, expected it to be) to begin. You know, waiting for the end of junior high so that the real life of senior high would start; waiting for graduation from high school or college, waiting for the perfect job or the perfect life partner ... Shauna's realization was that beautiful life moments that were real and full and beautiful were passing her by because she was not waiting well.

I was struck today when I read her most recent blog post ... again about waiting. Even as I was finishing her thoughts, my own ran away with me making a list of all the things I have been or am waiting for. I sat yesterday with a family and we waited for 6+ hours during risky heart surgery to hear that their loved one was holding his own. And, they continue to wait for one more good day to be added to the first. I am waiting with young adult children who see their mother's alcoholism destroying her life and theirs; we wait for their courage to love their mother in a tough and tender way that will bring hope and healing, and for their father to join them in a commitment to love her to health, not death. I am waiting for a very private couple to find courage enough to speak aloud the reality of their coming days as they face cancer that they might wait through tests and treatments not alone, but with the company of friends who long to love them well by standing close.

There a jillion other things I am waiting for you; I am confident that you're doing your own waiting right now. As Shauna pointed out in her blog today, how we wait probably says more about us than we realize. If I trust in God as my constant companion, capable and willing to bring about my best for His glory ... then I wait patiently and confidently on Him. See? I want to challenge each of us to commit to learn to be better waiters this Advent season - to let the season really be about the Gift named Christ, not how many you can cram under the tree; to let the season be about preparing your heart and home for Jesus' residency and not just fleeting company of family and friend; to get excited about the coming of Christ for you, for me and not just about getting what you'll get and getting through the holidays.

I don't know what you're waiting on, but I'm pretty sure you're waiting on something, or someone. But, how will we wait? May each moment of this season be an opportunity for you and for me to wait on God's presence. It is our Divine Promise and one that can be depended upon. As I wait for healing, for restoration and reconciliation, for courage and for comfort, I will do best to wait on the One who is the Source of all good things and whose timing is always just right.

How will you wait for all things you hope for?