As catalogues arrive wanting me to buy something, as activities increase wanting me to do something, and as solicitors call wanting me to purchase something, its often about this time of year that I find myself simply wanting to wait- to wait upon the LORD.
I have never been disappointed in waiting upon the LORD. For its often in waiting that the anxieties of the day melt away, and peace comes. Things which once seemed so important or even urgent, in God’s presence, find their proper place, if they find a place at all. And in waiting, Love often appears to reveal and strip away much of what is false- false about myself and about the world.
Waiting though is not always easy. The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible points out that waiting “connotes tension and endurance.” The world does not encourage waiting.
Yet waiting is the posture of many in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the New Testament. The Psalms speak repeatedly of waiting. For its in waiting that the soul finds that for which it truly longs. Its in waiting that the soul experiences salvation and renewed hope. And Isaiah says “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” In the New Testament, the elder Simeon waited his whole life upon the LORD, but he was not disappointed, and upon seeing the infant Savior he said, “Lord, you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised; For these of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see; A Light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”
This Advent, may we also wait…
