Is it Christmas yet?
Christmas is the season of waiting.
You wait for the day, Christmas, to come. You wait in long lines to buy gifts.
And if you shop online, you wait each day for the UPS driver to drop something
at the front door, all the while trying intercepting it before someone sees the
box. And this is just for the gifts you bought for yourself. I think I might be
talking about myself here. Needless to say, I hate to wait!
Life often involves waiting, even
waiting on God. The practice of prayer often requires a fair amount waiting and
patience. Come to think about it, Advent is all about waiting with expectation
and hope. The Christmas season turns out to be a wonderful time in fact to
explore what it means to wait, because we find ourselves in a posture of
waiting as Christmas draws near.
Often times the practice of prayer
and the expectation of Advent get lost in all the trappings of the Christmas
season: selecting that perfect gift, giving that gift they never expected,
parties, more parties, family gatherings whether you like them or not. Did I
mention how I hate to wait?
There are many people waiting in
the narratives written about Jesus’ birth in the Bible: Mary and Joseph are the
most obvious two, then the shepherd’s, and the Magi last. That’s the end of the
story isn’t it? It’s only then, when one reads a bit farther we’re blessed by
two obscure figures in Luke’s gospel named Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:22-38 CEB).
Luke talks about how Simeon was “righteous
and devout… eagerly anticipat[ing] the restoration of Israel” (25). Anna is
described as “never [having] left the
temple, but worshipped God with fasting and prayer night and day” (37).
Theirs was a spirit of prayerfully waiting
patiently. I’m not talking about waiting in a checkout line on Black Friday,
but faithfully, over a long period of time, waiting for God to fulfill his
promise of sending a Messiah that would redeem Israel—Jesus Christ. God’s plan
moves at its own pace and Simeon and Anna exemplify the disciple of prayer.
It’s easy to get frustrated with
waiting and give up by doubting God and his goodness. It takes being committed
to God’s promise no matter how long the wait. Heidelberg Q&A 117 says it best. “We must rest on this
unshakable foundation: even though we do not deserve it, God will surely listen
to our prayer because of Christ our Lord. That is what God promises us in his
Word.”
God honors persistent prayer and
when God is ready to act those who stay in prayer will be the first to recognize
and receive his amazing gift.
Think about this:
Imagine what it must have been like
for Simeon and Anna to meet Jesus?
What are some situations you are
prayerfully waiting for?
