from Ministry Architects with minor edits
Psalm 23:3 reminds us, “He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Advent is a beautiful time of living in the liminal space of already and not yet. Even though it is 2024, and we know Jesus was born, lived, died, and rose again more than 2000 years ago, believers like us continue to make space for the practice of waiting.
Waiting is complicated. For kids, waiting is the worst. It fuels impatience, strengthens impulses, and creates a playground for imaginations to run wild, often making an ask for forgiveness sound a whole lot better than an ask for permission.
For adults, it’s not much different. Rare is the grown-up for whom waiting doesn’t feel like excruciating inaction. And when trials are too much, or tasks seem trivial – that’s the height of our desire to just do something.
The problem is, those somethings we do aren’t always in line with our Lord. In fact, little else feeds the imbalance of our record to go rogue than when we have to wait. In these moments, we hold a great propensity to flounder instead of follow, completely forgetting that waiting with the Lord isn’t inaction at all. Waiting with the Lord presents a perfect opportunity for restoration.
Think about it: Waiting offers concentrated time to pause and reflect on whether the path we’re walking is God’s or our own. Waiting can lead to listening, where we can work out if fear or loneliness is speaking louder than the comfort, guidance, and strength that our very present God supplies.
Advent is a reminder we get to live differently than the rest of the world, and that includes how we wait. How are you celebrating this season of waiting?
Here are two suggestions as you consider your Advent call to wait:
- Take 2
- Take 2 minutes and think about the last time you had to wait. Really wait.
Who was a part of that time? What was the situation? Did you find peace in the pause – or did you fill the moments with movements, either scrolling through a phone or doing anything to avoid just being present in the wait?
Think-on-Three:
- Where in your world does fear, loneliness, or floundering have a presence?
- How might your soul need to be restored in the Lord this season?
- Who waits well in your life – and who is watching you wait, learning how it’s done?