in the waiting
My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him.- Psalm 62:5
What does it mean for a soul to wait? I think about unmet expectations and how I am a sufferer of those. How I love to dream of the best possible scenarios in my job and in my home and in my relationships. And when reality doesn't align with my dreams of how things ought to be (my expectations) I'm left disappointed. Sometimes confused or anxious. Other times bitter or resentful. Who can relate to patiently waiting for unanswered prayers or unmet expectations over what we had hoped?
As December swirls around us with gifts and snowflakes and holiday parties-my mind drifts to Christmas- the true meaning of it. Christmas is a celebration and remembering and rejoicing of the day the world received its first sign of hope. I think about those who lived before Christ came and how the world was waiting.
The world was waiting for a "Savior, a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:6). The world was waiting for the God who turns our bitterness into sweetness and fulfills His promises.
One of the signs of the fulfilled promise to give us a Savior shone as a brilliant star in the sky; a symbol of hope that hadn't revealed itself quite so bright for a while. And then here was God was showing Himself- in physical form- revealing the work that had always been in motion. But this was after the waiting. The souls of the bodies that wandered the ground had to wait, with calm wills and hearts and minds, for God to fulfill his promise of a providing a Savior and King.
"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah 7:14
"And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." Luke 2:12
"When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." Matthew 2:10
We can remember the magnificent star in the sky that was wondrous- and then it disappeared. While that star eventually left our sight, the true light was now in the world in the form of a baby swaddled in a manger- Jesus Christ. "The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him" (John 1:9-10).
We can think of the empty tomb and how that means the star in the sky still burns because Jesus is still alive. He was born and yet, He is not dead. His light still shines in this world, all around you, and in His spirit within you.
When we wait for unmet desires to be met, for fulfilled promises, for answered prayers, or when we wait for Him to come back again and return us home, we can think of Christmas. This is the hope that lies in this Christmas and every Christmas and every moment of every day. We celebrate the hope that showed itself, revealing the faithfulness of God. We celebrate the hope that exists every day- the gift of Christ that brings exceeding joy.
"Miracles happen when we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ", because he is the miracle. Let's continue to fix our eyes on who was and is and is to come. We can wait with hope. We can wait with joy. We can wait with sound wills and hearts and minds. We can wait with great expectations in the one who sustains our every breath and desire.
We wait for God to shine His light time and time again, in little ways and in large ways, and we can expect that HE will. Wait silently, my soul, for your expectations are from Him.
"Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope."
-Psalm 27:14
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33