Advent: wait and see

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9.6

Think about it: Have you ever waited expectantly for something to happen? What were you waiting for? How did you feel while you waited? What did you do while you were waiting?

I remember waiting expectantly for church Christmas plays, Christmas vacation – two blissful weeks of no school, no recess and no classmates – Christmas Day itself, birthdays and summer breaks when I was a child. I got to play Mary one year when I was in the fourth grade for our church production of the Christmas story and I remember each moment very fondly.

Donning the long tunic that would be my costume, the hair cover and head band to hold it in place, and letting my fourth grade teacher “primp” my hair so it lay evenly over my shoulders. I couldn’t wait to hold baby Jesus – well, a doll that symbolized him in the handmade manger prop we used.

Even though it was just a doll, I couldn’t wait to cradle him in my arms.

Years have passed since that Christmas in 1994 and I find myself still expectantly waiting for things to happen in my own life.

The discovery of my career – that which I want to do the rest of my life.

A husband

Children

Financial stability

A house of my own

The list goes on.

But, even more than all of those things, I find myself waiting more and more expectantly for the return of Jesus. In year’s past, it’s at Christmas that this truth becomes more of a reality for me as I expect to discover some new nugget of truth in regards to his life here on earth. I’m hoping that it will continue to ring true moving forward from this moment, no matter the time of year.

I’m not sure what that holds for me this year, but I will expectantly wait for Jesus to teach me something through his miraculous and wonderful entrance into our lives.

prepare the way

He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared. – Luke 1.16-17

What John the Baptist did for Israel, Advent can do for us. Don’t let Christmas find you unprepared. I mean spiritually unprepared. Its joy and impact will be so much greater if you are ready!

That you might be prepared…

First, meditate on the fact that we need a Savior. Christmas is an indictment effect until we feel desperately the need for a Savior. Let these short Advent meditations help awaken you a bittersweet sense of need for the Savior.

Second, engage in sober self-examination. Advent is to Christmas what Lent is to Easter. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139.23-24) Let every heart prepare him room…by cleaning house.

Third, build God-centered anticipation and expectancy and excitement into your home – especially for any children. If you are excited about Christ, they will be too. If you can only make Christmas exciting with material things, how will the children get a thirst for God? Bend the efforts of your imagination to make the wonder of the King’s arrival visible for the children.

Fourth, be much in the Scriptures, and memorize the great passages! “Is not my word like fire, says the Lord!” (Jeremiah 23.29) Gather around the fire this Advent season. It is warm. It is sparkling with colors of grace. It is healing for a thousand hurts. It is light for dark nights.

© Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

the season of advent

Advent is for adoring Jesus. Advent is a season of patiently waiting, hopeful expectation, soul-searching and calendar-watching (not that we need time to go any faster). Each year, churches around the world celebrate this season of waiting, beginning four Sundays before Christmas and ending on Christmas Eve. Advent helps us prepare for the coming of Christ…kind of like an extended birthday celebration.

There isn’t really a set standard of topics to follow during the season of Advent. It’s a season of waiting and it’s while we wait that we think of the things of Christ and the events that led up to his birth.

This year, these writings and ponderings will focus on waiting, joy, peace, love and the reason Christ came: to fulfill God’s law and to make all things new.

**Note: I’m not an expert. These writings are based on the nuggets of truth God has opened my eyes to in His Word and how it applies or affects my own life.