Patiently Waiting
Many of us wait all year anticipating the arrival of the holiday season. We wait for the holiday traditions, the family time, the delicious food, the exchanging of gifts, and the joyful moments that are made throughout the whole month of December. For many, this is a time to look forward to and to wait patiently for as it approaches. However, for others, it is not like this at all. There are some of us who dread this time of year because of the feelings of loss, brokenness, and loneliness that are overwhelming and paralyzing.
During this season, everyone is engaging in some form of waiting or some form of patience. You might be waiting for the season to begin while others are waiting for it to end. There is a whole spectrum of how our community might be feeling in this regard. However, I believe there is something far better than any of these options that we can be anticipating.
What I am proposing is that we patiently wait for the arrival of the coming King. Let’s spend time this season on Jesus coming to our world than anything else. As Christians, this is important because it reminds us of how God has been patient with us.
If I take you all back to the creation story for a moment, it will help explain the beauty of God’s patience with humanity. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the fruit and disobeyed God, humanity has been on a downward spiral of sorts. The biblical account slowly unwraps a story of how humanity has always been impatient with God and how God has been faithfully patient with them.
Genesis 16 tells the story of how Abraham and Sarah and their impatience with God. God had promised them a son and that their lineage would be one that blesses all the world. But because they grew impatient, Abraham slept with Hagar, his servant, and while Ishmael was born from that, he was not the fulfillment of the promise. The narrative in Exodus 32 shows a similar thing. It tells us that the people became impatient in how long Moses was taking on Mount Sinai with God so they made idols of their own to worship. In 1 Samuel 13, Saul grows impatient as the Philistines assembled to fight Israel. It was only right for Samuel, the prophet, to sacrifice to God before battle, but Saul became impatient and afraid and did it Himself. This led to the eventual downfall of Saul as King. In times of waiting and patience, humanity has always been good at disregarding God’s plan and trying to taking control. In each account, we can see that it did not lead to a beautiful plan God had for His people but to brokenness and messiness.
However, God always responds in faithful patience toward His people. Even in the midst of Abraham, Israel, and King Saul disregarding Him, he still carries out His plan of redemption. With Abraham and Sarah, God still came through and gave them Isaac. With Israel, God still took them to the promised land. And with Saul, God provided a better King in David. During human impatience, God responds with supernatural patience. And this story goes on for a long time where His people are never quite able to figure out how to trust in His timing.
Why does God keep on giving us more and more chances? Why does he stay patient when things were not changing? Why does he keep pushing the redemption story forward? It is because of His deep love for us. He loves us too much to let us stay in the darkness. His patient love is fully known in the person of Jesus. The arrival of Jesus shows us how patient he is with us. We have always rebelled against Him, tried to do things our own way, been impatient with His timing, and His response is to send His Son to save us. He was patient enough to not get angry but show deep compassion in His life, death, and resurrection. His patience on the cross for us covers our impatience with Him.
This is what I believe our primary focus should be this Christmas season. The focus should be on how God’s deep patience for us saved us on the cross. That He holds no grudge against us for not being patient with Him, but that He wants us to begin to trust Him and be patient with His timing in our world. He wants us to know that He will take care of us, that He will look after us, and that He will do things for us when He knows it is right. There is always hope in Jesus.
Reflect on the patient King coming to earth.
Merry Christmas,
Luke Burke