Journeying Through AdventSample

While We Wait

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” ~John 1:14

You’re in a large, open room with white walls. The fluorescent lights buzz overhead, casting everything and everyone in a sickly, unflattering glow. The chair beneath you wobbles, and your neighbor’s cough reverberates, making you instinctively lean away. You glance at the clock again and again, but time seems to be slowing to a crawl. You don’t want to be here, yet there’s no other option. You think, when will this be over?

It’s a universal fact that everyone, everywhere, is always waiting for something. We wait in traffic, wait for news of layoffs, wait months for babies to grow, and wait for waiters to bring us food. Waiting defines our lives, forcing us to experience its curiosities, despair, tension, and excitement. In many ways, waiting is often the main event of our lives.

We are now in Advent, often called the season of waiting. Yet the word’s root, adventus, is Latin for "coming." Like a hungry dog at feeding time, we wait for what we know is coming—for whom we know is coming.

God foretold Jesus' coming in the Garden of Eden, promising a deliverer to overcome Satan (Genesis 3:15). Yet God waited to send him until the world was ready. Years of tears and suffering, of promises and blessings, of rebellion and exile. Years of slavery and wilderness, of triumph and defeat. Seasons of prophecy and hope, and then 400 years of silence. We may never fully understand why God waited, but we know his timing is deliberate. Christ was born at a moment in human history when the world was uniquely ready to receive his gospel. Waiting, in his promise, becomes a powerful tool of our transformation.

Delight in our faithful God this Advent. Invite him into the event of your waiting.

Prayer: Lord, fill me with your peace. Give me awareness of your presence, that I may delight in your help and strength. May my circumstances never diminish my love for you. My heart, hands, and mind are open to receive what you offer. Amen.

Written by Erin Strakalaitis (Wesley Seminary Master of Divinity class of 2024)