{"id":5125,"date":"2014-11-24T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2014-11-24T18:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/?p=5125"},"modified":"2020-11-23T17:12:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-23T23:12:49","slug":"advent-invitation-wait-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/2014\/11\/advent-invitation-wait-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent – An Invitation to Wait on God"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lectionary readings for the first Sunday of Advent (Cycle B).\u00a0Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37
\nClick for complete Advent calendar (Cycle B) and guidance on using the lectionary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cO that you would tear open the heavens and come down!\u201d\u2014<\/em>Isaiah 64:1<\/p>\n

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Waiting is one of God\u2019s immensely sweeping invitations. To wait expectantly and with open hands requires a relinquishment of control that gets at the roots of our motivations, fears and idols. It is where we learn that God isn\u2019t a genie; and happiness is not a matter of God meeting our expectations. While we wait, we sense the naked vulnerability of trust. No matter how disciplined, organized and prayerful we get, we never outgrow God\u2019s invitation to wait. The learning curve is life long.<\/p>\n

You would think with years to practice we would get the hang of it. But many of us would rather get our teeth drilled than wait. Advent is the season to keep learning and practicing this discipline that is challenging for us all. It is an opportunity to see the good fruit waiting can produce in our lives.<\/p>\n

Unearthing What is in Our Hearts<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Years ago when people communicated by snail mail, I was waiting for what only can be called a \u201clove letter.\u201d Every day I would go into the front hall to pick through the assortment of bills, cards, advertisements and letters the mail carrier brought. Did I mention that I did this every day? Day after day? Each passing day it became harder to wait. My heart did flip flops. My stomach ached.<\/p>\n

One day as I flipped through the stack of mail, I hit a bonanza. I had seven<\/em> letters from dear friends on various parts of the globe! But rather than being elated, I was increasingly disappointed as I saw each return address. Throwing the letters on the floor, I knew my expectation was turning the good moment that had been given to me into a bad moment. But I did it anyway.<\/p>\n

Waiting unearths what is really in our heart. It exposes what happens when our expectations go unmet. When my husband, Doug, was out of work for a year, when our house didn\u2019t sell for a year, when we moved to Chicago leaving our sixteen year old son with a car and credit card to finish his junior year\u2026 each second seemed a life time of waiting. But the waiting did something. It exposed a control streak a mile wide as well as a begrudging heart. I rue all the good moments I morphed into bad ones as I clung to my demands of what God ought to do.<\/p>\n

Growing in Discernment<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Waiting is a central, unchangeable, universal fact of life. The homeless are waiting for somewhere to go. Refugees are waiting to return home. Tracts of humanity wait for lasting peace or rain or medical resources or disaster relief teams. Children wait for birthdays. The elderly wait for their savings to run out. Commuters wait in traffic. Wait. Wait. Wait some more.<\/p>\n

Many of us get so frustrated with waiting that we\u2019d rather make a quick decision and pick up the pieces later than hang around in limbo and wait for clarity to come. Doing \u201csomething\u201d feels so much better than doing nothing. But waiting is not doing \u201cnothing.\u201d And doing something is not always better than waiting!<\/p>\n

When an autistic child reacts in a hysterical manner, the most important thing for the teacher to do is to just stand there, still and waiting. The teacher is not to do something; she or he is not to step in. It is best for the teacher to wait and watch for what is really going on. By contemplating the child, the teacher may become aware of what precipitated the crisis. Rushing in to fix things too quickly distorts the pattern and perspective in the moment. Acting actually blurs a teacher\u2019s discernment. Clarity comes through patient waiting in the now<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Waiting Produces Patience<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Patience is a characteristic of God and a fruit of His Spirit. You would think we would want it as much as we want love, joy, and peace, which are better known fruits of the Spirit. But I don\u2019t. I resist the particular conditions required to grow the fruit of patience. It\u2019s embarrassing how often I beg God to \u201cdo something\u201d so I don\u2019t have to wait and let patience grow. As Henri Nouwen writes, \u201cImpatient people are always expecting the real thing to happen somewhere else and therefore want to go elsewhere. \u201d<\/p>\n

It is some comfort that my all too human plea for God to \u201cdo something\u201d is found in the mouths of countless others in Scripture, including those who speak in the passages from the first week of Advent. Isaiah cries out, \u201cO that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence\u2014as when fire kindles and brushwood and fire causes water to boil!\u201d<\/em> (Isaiah 64:1, 2) And the Psalmist pleads, \u201cGive ear, O Shepherd of Israel\u2026Stir up your might, and come to save us! Restore us, O God, let your face shine that we might be saved.\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 80:1-3)<\/p>\n

The Holy One could<\/em> vindicate his presence. He could<\/em> answer us at once and then we wouldn\u2019t have to wait. So why doesn\u2019t He? Perhaps because the growth and development of patience in our lives is more important to him than we realize!<\/p>\n

Crucible of Transformation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One of the main reasons God doesn\u2019t always answer us immediately is that waiting is God\u2019s crucible of transformation. Waiting is how God gets at the idols of our heart. Waiting addresses the things we think we need besides God to be content: money, comfort, expedience, success or control. It creates space to learn more about who God is, to receive his purposes into our lives, to move past our resistance and say our deepest yes to him.<\/p>\n

The season of Advent is full of people waiting everywhere. Elizabeth is waiting for a baby. Zechariah is waiting to speak. Simeon is waiting to see the salvation of Israel. Anna is waiting on God\u2019s promise. Israel is waiting for God\u2019s promised prophet to come. Mary is betrothed and waiting to get married.<\/p>\n

Then, after years of waiting, in one breathtaking moment an angel greets Mary, and says, \u201cGreetings, you are highly favored!\u201d<\/em> And when Mary hears God\u2019s plan for her, she responds to God\u2019s invitation with \u201cI am the Lord\u2019s servant\u2026May your word to me be fulfilled.\u201d<\/em> Her \u201cyes\u201d brings God to us in person \u2013 in Jesus. All that waiting had a purpose!<\/p>\n

In that moment human ears hear what the human soul has been longing to hear throughout the ages. God has kept his promise. The woman and her offspring\u2014young and innocent, without a scrap of worldly power\u2014are here. Through them the forces of evil in our world will be defeated! They are our guarantee that waiting is worth the while. God hasn\u2019t forgotten us. He is faithful. The Holy One comes through. In Jesus all God\u2019s promises are \u201cyes!\u201d<\/p>\n

Speak to Your Heart<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So, too, our waiting has a purpose. Every moment of every day is meant to lead us out of the darkness of self and into the light of LOVE. Waiting makes us look like Jesus. It can produce purification, character and the listening wisdom that brings discernment.<\/p>\n

Waiting doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong. It doesn’t mean God hasn’t heard you. It is not a waste of time. God is at work making you into a person with the character and integrity you need in order to participate in his dream for this world. You are in a moment where you can develop a discerning heart, contemplating evidence of the unseen hand of God and growing in trust.<\/p>\n

So speak to your heart this Advent season. Say as the Psalmist did, \u201cPatiently wait for God alone, my soul! For he is the one who gives me confidence.\u201d<\/em> (Ps. 62.5) As we wait expectantly and with open hearts, the Holy Spirit gets at us and gives us grace\u2014grace to wait and to see when<\/em> God answers our prayers, not if<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2014. Adapted from Adele Ahlberg Calhoun, Invitations from God<\/em>, InterVarsity Press<\/a>, 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Receive a digital version of Advent Reflections: Revive Restore Reveal<\/a> when you make a donation. Make a gift of $50 or more and your donation will be matched up to $50,000 when you give before December 31.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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How has God used waiting in your own life to bring clarity needed for true discernment? Where are you waiting on God this Advent season?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lectionary readings for the first Sunday of Advent (Cycle B).\u00a0Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Click for complete Advent calendar (Cycle B) and guidance on using…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-words"],"yoast_head":"\nAdvent - An Invitation to Wait on God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A season for transformation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/transformingcenter.org\/2014\/11\/advent-invitation-wait-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Advent - 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