Wait.
Citizens of this great land do not like to wait.
We do not like to wait, we cannot stand to wait, we despise to wait, we will
not wait.
Wait.
Citizens of this great land do not like to wait.
We do not like to wait, we cannot stand to wait, we despise to wait, we will
not wait. We do not want to wait for our food, our gasoline, a traffic light
to turn green, someone to get out of our way, a cashier to finish checking out
the people ahead of us in line. We cannot stand to wait three days for our film
to return as photos and can barely tolerate a wait of an hour for them.
Still, at Christmas, we waited.
My parents were iron-fisted when it came to the time to open gifts. No one
cracked a wrapping or pulled a string on a bow until Christmas morning –
no one. Shaking gifts slightly was frowned upon; violently shaking them was
at the penalty of death. We could dash out of bed to the tree at 4:00 a.m. on
Christmas Day but definitely not before that time. Until then, we waited.
So, as children and now as adults, at Christmas, we identify somewhat with
the frustration of the Israelites when the spokesmen of God said, “Wait.
Wait upon the Lord for the first Christmas.” Wait?
And wait they did – an imposed wait, perhaps, but a wait, nevertheless.
Some 150 times, the Bible says, “wait,” usually adding “upon
the Lord.” And wait the children of God had to do. The nation waited hundreds
of years through kingships and captivities for the long-promised messiah. God
would only send the messiah when his time was right, when the time of waiting
was fulfilled. So, they could “wait upon the Lord” or they could wear
themselves out in frustration and impatience or just forget the whole thing.
The waiting, however, was not idle time. God made it clear, the kind of waiting
they were to be about was not like sitting, watching an egg until it hatches.
It was the kind of waiting a farmer does in working with God to bring about
the long-awaited cropnot sitting idly until “something happens.”
Our waiting involves fixing our hope upon God, being true to his Word and obedient
to him and his Word in our waiting. We are to go about serving him with all
our hearts, souls and minds until the fulfillment of his time and our work.
The other side of waiting is moving forward when waiting has served its purpose,
when the time is ripe for his purpose. Many of the Israelites did not understand
waiting, and they, therefore, did not understand moving forward in Gods
time. During their time of waiting for the messiah, they did not wait upon the
Lord and, therefore, did not recognize the messiah when he came at the fullness
of time. Many Israelites were part of the waiting for generations but missed
the fruit of their waiting because they did not accept Jesus Christ as messiah.
It seems America is in a period of waiting, waiting for revival. While some
sparks of revival appear on the spiritual landscape, most churches are barely
holding their own, and many are slipping downward. Only a small percentage are
growing, and a good portion of these are growing by transfer of membership rather
than by conversion of people into the kingdom. For whatever reason, the revival
that can change the United States has not come.
Do we give up believing the revival can come – or do we actively wait
with tense anticipation for God to move in the spirit of renewal over our land
and in our churches?
While most of the people of Israel either tried to rush God into their time,
rather than waiting for his, or take things into their own hands, there were
those who were waiting with great anticipation, and who were blessed with the
fulfillment of Gods promise. Simeon, Anna, Elizabeth, Mary, Zachariah,
the wise men. Certainly, there were others as well. They actively waited, and
they saw the fulfillment of their deepest dreams. Others could have, but they
did not purposefully wait.
Christmas tells us we must wait. And then, it tells us the fulfillment of our
deepest dreams can be reality. Just as Christ came than night in Bethlehem,
he can come with reviving power to Louisiana. And he will come in the fullness
of time when the time is ripe. The people who are ready will be the first to
know. Christmas a time of waiting, a time of fulfillment.
Merry Christmas, a blessed New Year and, hopeful, revival