by Christine Sine
How long do we wait before we stop believing in the promises of God to be fulfilled? How long before we turn our backs on God’s seeming lack of response? We know how long it will be from a child’s conception to its birth, and we want that kind of certainty about the promises of God. A timeline that says “this will be the day”.
Waiting is an integral and important part of the Biblical narrative and God does a lot of it. We are now into the 4th week of Celtic Advent and the 2nd week of traditional Advent, and most of us feel that Christmas Day is coming very fast, and yet we know that once Christmas Day has passed, we will still be waiting and it seems so long, this in-between time between the promise and its final fulfillment.
The Eternal One’s preparation for the birth of Jesus goes back before the beginning of time. God, whose very nature is love and life and light knew from the beginning of time that the coming of Jesus was necessary. It is written in the words of the prophets. According to astrologers it was even written in the stars. Our Creator, the ever present, ever loving One, has known the sorrow and the joy of preparation not just for 9 months, but throughout eternity. And the waiting for the fulfillment of the promise for wholeness and flourishing that will mark the return of Christ, is not over.
Are we willing to wait?
Abraham was not willing to wait as long as God wanted him to. He was too impatient for the child he had dreamed of for years. Sarah laughed because she no longer believed the promise of a child was possible. Joseph didn’t think he should wait at all and arrogantly shared his dreams with his brothers.
How many others have dreamed God’s dreams and then tried to fulfill them in their own way and at their own time? We know that it is dangerous for a pregnant woman to give birth before her time. She needs to wait 9 months before her baby is born.
I am sure that Mary became very uncomfortable as the baby grew inside her. I am sure she longed for the birth and wished it would happen soon. However, I am also sure she was willing to wait because she knew that an early birth could mean complications and even death for both her and her child. I bet she did everything she could to keep the child growing within her healthy, in spite of her own discomfort.
How many of us laugh at God’s promises like Sarah did because we feel we have already waited too long and no longer believe?
The garden teaches me important lessons about waiting. Seeds need time to germinate. Fruit and flowers need time to grow and mature. There are no shortcuts to the beauty and abundance that the garden promises, but the wait is worth it.
The Advent story encourages us to wait, to prepare, to hope for the promises yet to come.
How long should we wait
Before we give up on a dream?
How long should we hope
Before we discard a promise?
How long God Almighty,
Before your dreams and promises
Become reality.
Abraham couldn’t wait,
Joseph didn’t want to.
Will we laugh in disbelief like Sarah?
Or will we sing with joy like Mary?
When God says:
Now is the time
For the impossible to be birthed.
God still waits,
To fulfill the promises
Begun in Jesus’ birth.
Come soon Prince of Peace
Bring our waiting to an end,
Come into our hurting world
Give birth to your new world of light and love and wholeness.
(c) Christine Sine 2023.