No one likes to wait. Whether age two or ninety-two, people prefer speed and convenience. “Instant” may not be fast enough for people used to hi-tech and broadband speed. For the driver in a hurry, waiting for a stoplight to turn green again can seem like the longest 45 seconds of one’s life. For children eager to open Christmas presents, the wait seems never-ending.
The season of Advent (which means “coming” or “arrival”) is a time of waiting. God’s people of every age and era have spent their lives waiting for what (better, Who) is coming.
God’s Old Testament people learned to wait. From Adam to Abraham to Moses to David to Isaiah, God’s people waited hundreds, even thousands, of years for the Lord to keep his promise to send a Savior. They heard the promises, responded with prayer and praise (when they were being faithful), and waited. But waiting was hard to do. Time and again, faithful prophets like Habakkuk (1:2) and Isaiah (6:11) and leaders like David (Psalm 13:1) cried out, “How long, O Lord?”
David expresses the faith of every believer on either side of Christ’s first coming: “I wait for the LORD. My soul waits, and in his word I have put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5 EHV) The writer to the Hebrews declares that even though Old Testament heroes of faith didn’t actually see the promise of the Savior come true, they set an example of faith for New Testament believers to follow: “Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
God’s promises of a Savior found fulfilment in the Christchild at Christmas. Believers today live in the “in-between time” between the first and second Advent of our Savior as we await fulfilment of the promises of his second coming. How shall God’s people wait? It is not easy, but it is essential to wait patiently and faithfully by giving our attention to God’s Word.
One early Sunday morning during the days of President Franklin Roosevelt's time in office, the phone rang in the office of the church which the president often attended. The minister answered and heard a voice on the line inquire, "Tell, me sir, do you expect the president to be in church today?” “That I cannot promise," said the minister, "but we do expect God to be there and that should be reasonably good reason for attending.”
See you at God’s house as together we wait for the coming Christ,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
The season of Advent (which means “coming” or “arrival”) is a time of waiting. God’s people of every age and era have spent their lives waiting for what (better, Who) is coming.
God’s Old Testament people learned to wait. From Adam to Abraham to Moses to David to Isaiah, God’s people waited hundreds, even thousands, of years for the Lord to keep his promise to send a Savior. They heard the promises, responded with prayer and praise (when they were being faithful), and waited. But waiting was hard to do. Time and again, faithful prophets like Habakkuk (1:2) and Isaiah (6:11) and leaders like David (Psalm 13:1) cried out, “How long, O Lord?”
David expresses the faith of every believer on either side of Christ’s first coming: “I wait for the LORD. My soul waits, and in his word I have put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5 EHV) The writer to the Hebrews declares that even though Old Testament heroes of faith didn’t actually see the promise of the Savior come true, they set an example of faith for New Testament believers to follow: “Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
God’s promises of a Savior found fulfilment in the Christchild at Christmas. Believers today live in the “in-between time” between the first and second Advent of our Savior as we await fulfilment of the promises of his second coming. How shall God’s people wait? It is not easy, but it is essential to wait patiently and faithfully by giving our attention to God’s Word.
One early Sunday morning during the days of President Franklin Roosevelt's time in office, the phone rang in the office of the church which the president often attended. The minister answered and heard a voice on the line inquire, "Tell, me sir, do you expect the president to be in church today?” “That I cannot promise," said the minister, "but we do expect God to be there and that should be reasonably good reason for attending.”
See you at God’s house as together we wait for the coming Christ,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand
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