(Guest post by Angela Watson)
During this time of year, as we looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Saviour, I am reminded that we are not that different from the Israelites. Just like those who waited for Jesus' birth, we too are waiting for Jesus to come again.
As I’ve spent time this advent season reading about those who were waiting for the Messiah to come, it has made me stop and ask: How am I waiting?
Waiting may seem like a very passive state but it’s actually an action. The definition of waiting from the Oxford dictionary is “the action of staying where one is or delaying action until a particular time or event…until someone arrives or is ready.”
Particularly during this time of COVID, the constant feeling of waiting has been brought to the forefront. We are waiting for the vaccine, waiting for the numbers to drop, waiting for the lockdown to be over, waiting for the stores/restaurants to open, waiting to spend time with our friends and loved ones, waiting to meet again as the church and waiting to return to our normal lives.
Though this season feels really long and the time is passing so slowly, the Bible reminds us that we are not on “our time” but on God’s time (Habakkuk 2:3):
For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.
This prophecy was likely related to the judgment of Judah, but in it, we can see that God’s timing is perfect. It may seem slow, we may wait a long time, but it will come. Nothing will delay God’s plans.
For the Israelites, it had been four hundred years since God had spoken to them and as we begin the book of Luke we meet Zechariah and Elizabeth who thought their dreams of a baby had passed them by. Despite their circumstances, they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
In chapter two of Luke, we meet Simeon and Anna who were also waiting for the Messiah. Both Simeon and Anna are described as having lived many years and we are given a summary of how they waited…Simeon was righteous and devout…Anna was continually worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day in the temple.
In 2 Peter 3:10-12 we read; “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God.”
So how am I living in the waiting? Am I gathering gold, silver, precious stones, or is my life composed of wood, hay, stubble (1 Cor 3:12-13)? As I’ve been pondering these questions, I’ve enjoyed the lyrics to the song "Echo" by Blanca:
I was made to leave a mark
Carry fire in my heart
No matter where I go
I want my life to echo You
I was meant to make You shine
Be a reflection of Your light
In everything I do
I want my life to echo You
As we experience this unique Christmas season and start a new year, may our waiting look like that of Zechariah & Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna: “diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (2 Peter 3:14). May our lives make Him shine, that we would be a reflection of Him to the world around us.
Angela Watson's Bio:
Born and raised in Nova Scotia, I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home where the Bible was read daily and I heard the gospel from early childhood. However, it was not until the age of thirteen that I accepted that Jesus died on the cross for my sins. It was through the words that Paul & Silas said to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31, “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved” that I trusted in Jesus as my Saviour.
While I am thankful for my upbringing, growing up I struggled with feeling loved and accepted, that I fit in and belonged. But it is through these experiences that God shows me His love and the value He places on me as His child.
Most of my Christian life I have been involved in the Sunday school and recent years in Ladies' Bible Studies.
God has blessed me with a loving family, my husband Jeff of twenty years, and our children: Alexander, William, and Abigail. We would have loved to have four children but God allowed us to have three. Our fun-loving labradoodle (Rusty) really brings the family together.