Waiting, Waiting, Wating
I’ve been hearing a LOT of echoes these past few days that I’m going to step out on a limb and say, are God speaking. They center on the thing that I’m maybe the worst at… waiting.
The idea was in Sunday’s sermon as I talked about the process of peace, that we can’t experience just by the wave of a magic wand, or the ignoring of pain or trauma. There’s work that’s involved, a process to get there. It takes time.
But there’s another kind of waiting too, an expectant waiting – like the birth of a child! We’ve had several babies born in our congregation this year, and we’re up to 4 or more members who are expecting, plus more extended family – and that’s the perfect example of a process of waiting that just can’t be rushed! Good things are happening in that period of waiting. And if we try to rush it into existence, we end up with some real problems.
Over the past couple days, I’ve listened to multiple podcasts and read several articles and chapters that all spoke to this fact. I didn’t necessarily seek them out, they’re just part of series or books I was already reading, and they were next in the queue. Think God might be telling me about waiting?
As we continue through the season of Advent, there is a very clear end to our waiting – the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, and for many of us, the frenzy of cards and meals and cookies and presents that will go along with it. We’re t-minus two weeks exactly until Christmas Eve right now! But there’s likely a whole lot of other waiting going on in our own lives that doesn’t have a clear “end” date. What do we do in that time?
I’ll keep preaching to myself, that I’m not supposed to grab that thing by the horns and make it happen. Letting God do God’s work around me and in me, is my constant work. Recognizing how and when I’m being invited in to participate, and how and when I’m being asked to wait patiently in the wings, is my area of growth.
It’s particularly true as I look ahead to the coming year. There are natural things we do as a church – welcome in new leaders, welcome in new members, go on a Winter Retreat and journey toward Easter. These are part of the natural rhythm of our church. But there’s an expectancy in my heart, in my spirit that there’s… more God is inviting me, and us into. And to be honest, I’m working on waiting to see what that is.
Amid one of the podcasts I listened to yesterday, I heard a wonderful idea about Zechariah (remember him? the ultimate John Hughes film adult, who loses his voice when the Angel tells him his wife, Elizabeth will have a baby, and doesn’t show up again until he’s born – with a profound blessing?) – an idea that Zechariah’s lost voice… might have been a gift of God, not a punishment – because only in that dormant period could he truly experience the profound blessing of that time. I mean, it does make sense. Take away one of our senses, and the rest tend to be heightened. Maybe it was that loss of voice that gave rise to that profound blessing. Maybe it took all of that 9 months to grow in his heart and mind until it burst forth in a beautiful way when he and Elizabeth presented John at the temple?
I’m going to keep my ears and eyes and heart open in this time of waiting, eager to recognize where and how God is leading in our midst. I’m waiting with anticipation, and I continue to promise to you… I’m going to do my best to let God do God’s work, in me and in us, whatever that looks like.
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus – as we wait together in peace,
Pastor Don
PS – in my eagerness to announce some things Sunday, I misspoke at the 8:30a service – the Children’s Christmas Program is NEXT Sunday, December 21, NOT this coming Sunday, December 14. I apologize for any confusion!