Thursday, December 10, 2015

Advent and the art of waiting.

All the weary world was waiting for the Messiah to come, and our anticipation of Christ coming again, that's the heart of advent. The yearning, the longing for Him.



My desire is too weak most days.
For me to know and to taste that longing is to think on the very banality of my life's questions that eat away at me and magnify it by an infinite number.

In The Dawning of Indestructible Joy, John Piper pleads that we pray for and pursue an understanding of Christ's fullness. That we would feel it. And experience it. And as I've asked to feel the fullness, He's mercifully brought me to an intensified place where I don't have answers.

Which drives me to the fact that He alone is the answer.

Jesus is it.
In the longing, in the waiting.
That's how I know His fullness.

Knowing that He is it, our only comfort both in life and death* and our only hope, is to celebrate advent.

Blanks may be left open at the end of my life, but it will not matter because I will "be like him, because [I] shall see him as he is." (I John 3:2) And much like Moses, I imagine, I will see God, my friend, face to face. (Deuteronomy 34:10)

So what are you wanting?
A career.
A steady income.
A house.
White kitchen walls.
A love.
A life full of kids.
Or grandkids.
Or a retirement fund big enough to send you to the Bahamas.

Don't lose the longing or waste the waiting, but embrace advent by looking at the lack of those things and allow the Holy Spirit to fill the void with the fullness of Christ - and the hope of His second coming - this Christmas.

* Question 1, Heidelberg Catechism

...

"I know now Lord, why you utter no answer. You yourself are the answer." 
- CS Lewis, Till We Have Faces

7 comments:

Katie said...

This why I love Advent so much. We need to wait, to long, to desire- and to learn to aim our waiting, longing, and desiring towards Christ. Great post, Kayla!

Erika said...

I brought my preschool students to God's house today. Their response,a Jesus lives here.
"Look, Gods picture is painted for us.
Wow, I needed a 4 yr old to remind me today to keep waiting and loving as we lit the love candle for advent today.

Terri Grothe said...

This is a beautiful heartfelt post, we can find Joy in waiting

Unknown said...

Thank you for this most sincere reminder. I am reading The Dawning of Indestructible Joy this advent and I absolutely love where Piper leads my heart each morning. Love the title of your blog, by the way!

Godly Homemaker (Andrea) said...

sometimes we want to strive more on the holidays - and we should be spending more time with God :D

Nicole said...

I just came across your blog and this post definitely hit home -

it reminded me of the song from Bethel church with lines that read "In the process/ In the waiting/ You're making melodies over me". It reminded me that life is perpetually a series of waits. We are all waiting from day to day - but in the grand scheme of things waiting for Him to return and take us home. Its easy to get impatient waiting on things, or waiting on God for the answers to some of our prayers. However, I do believe that when we focus on the eternal and big picture - it becomes clear we don't have to so preoccupied with those things because He satisfies (as you highlighted) and we know the answer to what we are eventually waiting for :)

Hope to read more posts soon!

Kayla Michelle said...

Thanks, Nicole, for your kind comment! Yes, we're always waiting for something and ultimately Jesus.

Thanks for reading too. Hopefully there will be more posts soon!