DECEMBER 3 THE AGONY OF WAITING By Christine Wyrtzen Writer, Teacher, Recording Artist, Broadcaster, Daughters of Promise
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. (Psalm 13:1-2, 5) The theme of waiting saturates the whole redemption story. God waited a long time to send a Savior after the fall of Adam and Eve. Did they look for Jesus after they were banished from the garden? If they understood the prophetic words God spoke over them, they did. They had known the love of the Father in the garden, and though the consequences of their sin were staggering, I’ve no doubt they knew God would come to save. ‘How long, O Lord?’ was the cry of the ages. Injustice, suffering, and the havoc created by an enemy who relished destruction appeared to have the last word as God’s people waited for their Messiah. They endured the scourges of many enemies and faced captivity in Babylon. They saw the destruction of their beautiful temple, waited four hundred more years through an interminable period of silence, and then bent under the weight of Roman rule before Jesus finally came. Never could they guess their answer was a sleeping baby in an animal’s cradle. Today, we are in a new waiting period. Emmanuel came once, stayed a while, but promised He would come again. Though we saw the mystery unveiled in part at Bethlehem, mankind—and the earth he has destroyed—has not yet been restored to his original condition. Why is God, again, waiting so long to rescue? How can He restrain Himself from coming when evil is rampant upon the earth? The nature of waiting is to have unanswered questions. The challenge of waiting is to find the spiritual grit to make proclamations of faith while we scan the horizon for His appearing. In every way you are watching for His salvation this Christmastime, do not let your trust in God be shaken. Rest in the mystery of His timetable. Grieve, but not without faith. Expect, but without a sense of entitlement. Question, but not with a fist. History will always reveal that love prevailed in the waiting.
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