It was a dreary and stormy afternoon. We were online watching the trajectory of my
brother Bob’s flight from Maine. The plane took a turn to the north to make its
way around the heavy line of thunderstorms passing over northeast Ohio. My brother Dan and I had been to the hospital
to get the word from the trauma doctor that Dad would not be able to recover
from the head injury sustained when he fell from a heart attack. We retreated to my place to wait for the
arrival of family members from far and wide.
Then back at the hospital we waited more for everyone to
complete the last leg of the journey and meet us there. After the removal of life support we watched
and waited as Dad’s breathing became shallower and finally the full surrender
of life came. Undoubtedly it had to be
the most painful and grievous waiting I had ever experienced.
In a sense, all the world is waiting, even travailing
through all our strife and division, all the struggle and sorrow. We have eternity planted in our hearts and
that manifests as a longing for all to be made right in the world. In Romans 8 Paul described our travail as “…groaning
as in the pains of childbirth,” but it is an agony mixed with joyful
anticipation and eager hope for the new life coming.
The characters in the Christmas story, Zechariah, Elizabeth,
Joseph and Mary, were also waiting, but with a sense of promise. Israel had
been awaiting the promised Messiah for generations. While some had given up the
wait, the people in the Christmas story had kept their heart soft and
expectant. They were able to receive the
angels’ pronouncements like seeds planted in fertile soil. But even they must have needed an added
measure of assurance for all the angels’ announcements began with, “Do not be
afraid.”
We also can take these words to heart. God knows how hard it is for us to wait, and
especially to wait without fear. There is the fear of loss of loved ones, or
health or income. There is fear of the future, hanging over us like a dark
cloud of uncertainty. Whatever it is
that you’re waiting and hoping for, you are not alone. God’s desire from the
beginning has been to be with us and centuries before that first Christmas the
prophet Isaiah foretold the coming of Immanuel
which means, “God with us.”
But He does not come to grant all our wishes like a genie in
a bottle. I’ve been in a place of waiting for a long time, seeking answers and
relief from some challenges. It is in the long wait that I am learning to not
only let go of the relentless search for answers and with it a striving for
control driven by fear, but more
importantly to trust that He is working everything out in the best way possible
and that His pure and simple presence with me is enough. It seems that the more I “let go” the more
I’ve seen Him move on my behalf to bring resolution in ways I couldn’t have
imagined or brought about.
This Christmas I pray that He will meet you where you are in
your own place of brokenness or need.
More importantly I pray that you come to fully experience His love,
grace and forgiveness. He who asks us to wait without fear is also waiting. He
is waiting for you with open arms.
