“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their
strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
Childhood
is a time of impatience. For kids, nothing can come soon enough, and the wait
for Christmas is especially intolerable. And for all its fun and festive preparations,
the hot chocolate and garland, Advent is actually a time of waiting. It’s a season
of preparation in the life of the church, as we get ready for the Lord’s
coming. And even though we know He will come, that Christmas will indeed
arrive, we still have to wait for the Lord to move in His time, not ours.
The people
of Israel knew what this kind of waiting meant. At different times in their
history, they simply had to wait on the Lord to act: to let them enter the
Promised Land, to free them from captivity in Babylon, to send the
long-expected Messiah. And the prophets knew that such waiting can be draining.
Langston Hughes’ famous poem reminds us that a dream deferred can sometimes
shrivel up like a raisin in the sun. The prophet Isaiah, however, says that
this doesn’t have to be the case, that waiting doesn’t have to mean losing
strength or losing hope.
In fact, waiting can be a time to
regroup, to recharge, to gather strength and be ready, so that when the Lord
finally acts, His people are prepared to move where He moves. John Wesley, the
founder of the Methodist Church, had a particular interpretation of the phrase “to
wait on the Lord.” For him it meant not to sit around with our arms crossed
until the Lord dramatically acts. Rather, it meant to be like a waiter in a
restaurant. To attend to the Lord, to follow His commands, and to be about His
work, all while we are waiting for His next move. This is waiting that keeps us
agile, keeps our muscles strong and our vision sharp.
This Advent season, many of us aren’t
waiting for Christmas; we know December 25th will come. Many of us
are instead waiting for something else. A better job. A buyer for our house. A
loved one to pick up the phone. An illness to be healed. A little more joy in
our days. There’s a danger in this waiting, that we would run out of steam and
just give up all together. But the prophet reminds us, just as he reminded Israel
centuries ago, that if we “wait on the Lord,” if we are faithful to His work
and keep our eyes on Him, that even in this waiting we can find strength. And
then when He moves, when the seas part, when the star shines, when the baby
raises a tiny hand, we will be ready to move with Him.
(To learn more about the Faircloth's ministry at the Methodist Church of Costa Rica, visit http://www.fairclothcostarica.com/)
