Advent

ADVENT

Today is the first day of Advent. Followers of Jesus take these four weeks to remember the first coming of Jesus and to await His second coming. Each of us determines how much change and growth Advent brings to our lives. We can look for the lessons and learn them, or we can see the month as just a little more tradition.

Let me bring you back to Mary and the events that meeting the Angel of the Lord put into motion. She accepted the message and the promises, but life had many lessons to teach her as she gave birth to Jesus, watched Him grow up, travel as an itinerant preacher, and become the sacrifice for our sins. She spent many of those years waiting to see how those words from the Angel would become reality in her life and the life of her son.

Most of us don't like waiting, but it's one of God's best resources for teaching us. I'm learning that in fresh ways right now. Advent couldn't come at a better time for me. Life has been pretty dry for me lately-especially my private times with the Lord. I've asked the Lord for direction, for some insight on how to get out of the desert.
Nothing seemed to work. It hadn't occurred to me that God might have a design in my wait.

Each month I meet with a retired pastor for spiritual direction. When I told him earlier this week about the dryness, he brought up the issue of waiting. He suggested attentiveness during dry times will teach us lessons we can only learn in the desert. That wasn't what I wanted to hear, but it made sense.

Advent helps me understand. Just as Mary waited to see God's work develop, we can learn through waiting for His work in our lives. We can learn by waiting for His coming. Most of us who have struggled with addictions know the demand of instant gratification. The Jews had waited 400 years for a word from God when Jesus came. Mary waited repeatedly to see God's design for her and her son. We can learn the lesson of waiting by paying attention to what God wants to say to us during the Advent season.

What's going on in your life that requires you to wait for God's work?
Be especially attentive during Advent; allow God to teach you through the lesson of waiting. "Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!" (Psalm 27:14) (Pastor John Strain - First Baptist Toms River)

Great quote: God is everywhere. His truth and his love pervade all things as the light and the heat of the sun pervade our atmosphere. But...God does not touch our souls with the fire of supernatural knowledge and experience without Christ. Thomas Merton