December 2
Chris May, Minister to Women
Perhaps we could say Paul was a master of waiting. He waited with hope for Christ to be fruitfully formed in the churches he had founded in his Lord’s name. He waited with heavenly perspective as he viewed the pain those churches sometimes caused him as they questioned his call, succumbed to persecution, were lured by false teaching, and failed to love each other in the way Christ loved them. He waited with equanimity as he lived in a kingdom of darkness that was hostile to the advance of the Kingdom of Light to which he had given his allegiance. He waited “wise as a serpent, innocent as a dove” (Matthew 10:16) as he maneuvered in that enemy territory. He waited, not alone, but along with men and women who were committed to the same Lord he served. He waited, keeping his eyes fixed on that Lord, in unceasing prayer to that Lord, in compete dependence on that Lord. He waited in trusting belief that, though he did not know when, he did know his Lord Jesus would return one Day to make all things new, to set all things right, to wipe away every tear and initiate the wedding feast of the Lamb.
How do you wait? How do I? I confess I am well acquainted with waiting impatiently, waiting in flimsy trust, waiting with my eyes fixed on the intractability of the problems facing me and our world rather than keeping my eyes fixed on my and our world’s loving Lord. If waiting fruitfully and faithfully can be as hard for you as it is for me, won’t you join me in asking the Holy Spirit to help us wait differently this Advent?
“To you O Lord I lift up my soul. Oh my God, in you I trust … My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me … Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you” (from Psalm 25).