He's Working in the Waiting
It's been cold here in Minnesota for a couple weeks now, but still no snow. We knows it's coming. We're all waiting for it. Waiting. It seems we're each in a season of waiting, one way or another. The children, waiting to play in the fresh fallen snow. Families, waiting for Christmas and all the magic the holidays bring. Myself, waiting for a break, a reprieve from schooling and keeping up with the daily schedule. We're reading a book in our morning devotions, written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the theologian arrested by the Nazi's in 1943, entitled "God is in the Manger." In this book, he reflects on the season of Advent and Christmas, but one of the central themes is 'waiting.'
"Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten. It wants to break open the ripe fruit when it has hardly finished planting the shoot. But all too often the greedy eyes are only deceived; the fruit that seemed so precious is still green on the inside and disrespectful hands ungratefully toss aside what has so disappointed them. Whoever does not know the austere blessedness of waiting - that is, of hopefully doing without - will never experience the full blessing of fulfillment." – Bonhoeffer
So, while the kiddos played, and the words of Bonhoeffer swirled inside my head, I decided it's time to slow down this Advent season, re-prioritize, and diligently practice the art of waiting. Easier said than done, but realizing that He's working in the waiting, is a good first step – as is enjoying the frost, and seeing beauty in between seasons.
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"For the greatest, most profound, tenderest things in the world, we must wait." - Bonhoeffer
Celebrating Advent means being able to wait. He has come, and he will come again. What are you waiting on?
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appears.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31