God is in the waiting

 

 

Advent is a time to wait,

Not yet time to celebrate.

Light the candles one by one,

'til the advent time is done.

Christmas time soon be here

time for joy and time for cheer. (FLC preschool song)

But waiting is becoming increasingly hard to do when we are inundated with messages of hurry and busyness. How am I supposed to practice waiting when I do not have time to wait? When I am full of worry and dread? When I just need to get 'all these things' done?

The answer, of course, is that we need to cut out the false prophets' voices. Those voices that are counter to God's still quiet voice. Since election night I personally have turned off the news. I read a little news on-line so that I am reminded for whom we should pray (wildfires on the east coast, people still trying to recover from hurricanes, and of course our own wind storms). By doing this I have found time to pray more. I have found time to sit and listen. I believe that you can identify those voices that are calling you into busyness, calling you into worry, and put them aside. To do so is a very holy thing.

At the end of the book of Job, we are reminded of these words that Job speaks after his lamentations about having everything taken from him:

"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you." (Job 42:2-5)

Job, having listened, understood his relationship with the Creator. We can hear the echo of God's voice stating, "Where were you when I created Leviathan?" God can do all things, and God's will, counter to all evidence otherwise, will not be thwarted in saving this world.

This Advent I am encouraging you to carve out space for your wreathe and take time to light those candles and pray for God's illumination in the darkness of our shared lives. As we await the coming of the light of the world, Jesus, our savior, we must practice this quiet waiting, for this is true protest against the world's desires.

Come in your holy might, we pray, 

redeem us for eternal day; 

defend us while we dwell below 

from all assaults of our dread foe. ( ELW 245, v4)