Wait?

Stop

Do you hate to wait?

Listen

Psalm 130:5–6 (NRSV)

5     I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

6     my soul waits for the Lord

more than those who watch for the morning,

more than those who watch for the morning.

Reflect

We begin Advent this weekend. Advent is a season that embraces the darkness and pain of waiting. It is a season designed to help us put on the skin of the Israelites as they sat in the darkness of Exile and waited for God’s Messiah to deliver them.

What are you waiting for today?

How does it feel in your soul, deep in your bones, when all you can do is wait?

I think we are all very familiar with that feeling in deeper ways than we could have imagined as we sit in this moment, 19 months into the pandemic. We were in lock down for so long. Now we live with the new normal of masks and the constant debate over vaccinations and the ubiquitous fear of infection, and the paralyzing feeling of not knowing what is right and best in most situations.

It’s exhausting.

It feels like a long, dark night.

And all we can do is wait.

Like the Psalmist, we wait for the LORD. We wait for something to show us the good and the beautiful in this thing that seems so dark and desperate.

Read the second line of verse 5 again. “and in his word I hope.”

The word of God is the promise of God that God is with us, God is for us, and God will not give up on us, no matter how long it takes, and no matter how many times we mess it up.

In this word we hope.

Tertullian said, “Hope is patience with the lamp lit.”

Hope means we trust that the good will come, eventually.

And, so, we light the candle of hope.

And wait.

Pray

Oh God, we wait for you. Give us patience. Give us grace. Amen.

Carry On

Spend some time each day to light a candle and breathe. Stare into the candle, as if you are staring into the heart of God, and take in deep breaths. Waiting is not the end. Embrace the moment, and keep hope burning.