Advent, a time of waiting

Advent means "the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event." In the church, it is a time of waiting for Jesus' birth, representative of all the years the world waited for the Messiah to come the first time. Advent also reminds us that He is coming again. Jesus told several stories about not being distracted from that reality.

Waiting is essential to following God. It is a submission, almost like fasting. In fasting, we give up food as a way of saying that God is more important to us. Waiting is laying down our own solutions, our own ideas and fixes, in order to receive what God has for us, in His time.

When I am sitting in my car, waiting on one of my daughters, I often have a book with me or my planner and calendar. Sometimes I'm texting or listening to the radio. But when my daughter hops in the car, she becomes my focus. Phone calls are ended, my things put away, and she has my attention. When you are waiting for company to come, you make final arrangments of the table or drinks, maybe turn on the tv. But you stop when they arrive, because they are your focus.

My daughter, who is sixteen, wants me to put up our advent calendar. I have promised to make her a chain instead, so she can visually see how long it is until Christmas. I thought my girls were too old for this. But she wants to know; she's waiting with anticipation. If I announced today when she came home from school, "It's Christmas!" she might be a bit puzzled, but she would run with it. It's what she's waiting for. (For some reason, she thinks she's getting a new phone--hence the excitement.)

As we wait, we are marked by what we're waiting for. When I sit in a parked car or Lizzye asks me, "How long until Christmas?" we become identified with the thing we are expecting.

It is interesting that "wait" is the verb used for servants. If you are at a restaurant, someone waits on you. Sometimes we use the phrase, "I'll just wait on myself," meaning, "I'll handle things on my own." May you be caught waiting on Jesus today. May the potential of His coming pull your attention away from what is in front of you. It's going to be great; it's better than what we're doing now.