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The other day I was reading about the Advent season which starts today. Advent means “coming, arrival” from the Greek word “paraousia” and it describes the waiting for Jesus’ birth and ultimately his return. 

We are all used to waiting, waiting in line, waiting in traffic, waiting for a job or happier times. Just today I got an email saying “Thank you for your application, now the waiting begins which can seem like we’ve forgotten about you.” Yikes! Don’t forget about me!

No one likes to be forgotten and that’s the issue with waiting, it feels like people have forgotten you. What if the waiting never ends, what if the waiting leads to more waiting and eventually to nothing.

Stu-G quotes, “My great friend Rabbi Joseph Edelheit says that we are all joined by our sense of “not yet-ness” We’re all waiting and hoping for something. And that is why I love this season of Advent remembering, refocussing, waiting for a King to come and praying for God to break the silence.”

As I look for work, apply, knock, call, email, stalk, annoy and the waiting begins, I wonder, will it lead to anything? Waiting is hard, we all can relate to this and we all are joined in this sense of “not yet-ness”.

In Isaiah 42 God tells his people to “forget the former things, I am doing a new thing”. He writes this when God’s people are waiting for something new to come, when they’re waiting for deliverance to come from their oppressors of 70 years.

But in the middle of the waiting, God says “forget the former things, I am doing a new thing”. God says, don’t focus on how long but on what I’m doing in your life. I’m doing a new thing that you cannot even imagine. And by the way, let go of the past, whether the past was great or not so great, you need to move on, detach, hang on to me, not to waiting or results, but wait for ME.

And what does it mean to wait for God? I think it means we trust that God is the one behind the scenes working and guiding us to a new thing. That although we work hard and call and wait, we eventually need to surrender all our waiting to God and let go.

So what is the right question during times of waiting? 

1. Commit to seeking God instead of stuff
2. Ask God to help you know Him better
3. Find ways to think of God’s goodness instead of things

As we wait for gifts to arrive, a new job, a better year, don’t lose sight of waiting for God himself.

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DISCUSSION

1. What are you waiting for?
2. Do you remember a time you had to wait? How long did it last and what was the result?

Thanks for reading,

Trig