Part 1

Do you ever get tired of waiting for God? Do you ever lose hope about all that is wrong in our world? In your life? Do you ever grow weary of waiting for Christ to show up and save you from your troubles? You do and Israel did. The season of Advent is a time of preparation for Christmas. What is preparation? Active waiting. You work while you wait, you prepare as you anticipate. And our four weeks of preparation and anticipation are to be a picture of what our larger life is to be like as we wait and work for Christ to return.

When it seems like Christ is nowhere, that’s when faith becomes crucial and you choose to believe that Christ is now here. We can all be like Thomas, and refuse to trust that Christ is here; and yet like Thomas, we need to hear the words of Jesus to him: you believed because you could see, blessed are those who do not see and yet believe.

I don’t know what you’re waiting on this Christmas. I don’t know what you are waiting on God to do for you this Christmas. I don’t know what you are praying for Christ to help you with. Maybe it’s health, or your job, or family, friends, your habits, your heart? Maybe you want Christ to do something about the loneliness of Christmas, the grief and sadness of Christmas, the hassle and hustle of Christmas, the unfulfilled hopes and expectations of Christmas, the stress and busyness of Christmas, the commercialism and shopping of Christmas, the pain and suffering of Christmas.

To prepare properly for Christmas is to be honestly aware of what you want rescued from in your life. For Christmas to be a proper preparation for our anticipation of Christ’s return, we must be clear on why we yearn for Christ to come back now and not later. To be continued tomorrow…

Reflect: on this today and journal your answers.

Source: anchor community church