If I said to you advent would you know what it means? In the Christian calendar it is a season of expectant waiting and preparation in the lead up to Christmas. The word advent comes from the Latin word adventus meaning “coming”.
So what does advent mean to you? For some who read this you may not celebrate Christmas or hold other beliefs and yet if I said to you have you ever had to wait for something I guess you would say yes. I can remember waiting for my birthday every year as a child. For some reason it used to take forever. These days the years go too fast…. I can remember waiting for exam results as a teenager… I can remember waiting for the birth of a child… Waiting to see if I had secured a job… Waiting for news on those I knew who were ill… Waiting for appointments, diagnosis and treatments… Waiting for phone calls that never came… Waiting to hear whether an offer on a house had been accepted…
Sometimes the things we wait for do not happen or they turn out differently to what we expect or sometimes want. Sometimes we grow weary in the waiting, disillusioned and cynical.
This advent I have been waiting for appointments and procedures to diagnose a mystery illness. There have been times when I have felt so frustrated and yet I have had to anchor myself in some words that helped me in the past “my times are in his hands” and “those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not grow faint.” The symptoms I have are neurological and people cannot see them except for the difficulty I am having walking. I spoke to someone at my church about what was going on and discovered they were diagnosed with a major neurological condition 18 months before but because I could not see it I did not know. It was good to share and pray together. Quite often we just don’t know what is going on in people’s lives and what they are waiting for… People are waiting to be asked how they are and what is going on in their lives?… The challenge is to take the time and to care and share with each other.
Because of my symptoms I have stayed mostly at home and decided not to drive and as I have sat and looked out on my street I have seen people rushing past going places. Slowing down and being still has taken me back to the heart of worship – it is all about Jesus. He has come into the frustration, emotional upset and fear. Christmas means something different to me this year. The bible says “never will I leave you nor forsake you” and this has been such a consolation in all the upset.
One Christian friend emailed me and spoke of advent being an adventure. And I guess this has spoken to me about going into the unknowing both good and bad trusting in God to make everything beautiful in its time. That advent is about expecting the coming of Jesus into our difficulties, trials and challenges as well as our joys and successes. And letting the light shine in the dark places of questions and pain. Immanuel – God with us.
As you wait for whatever you are waiting for I pray that God will keep you and help you with the challenges of each day. The footsteps poem is famous. Sometimes when we feel most alone are the moments when we are carried by God. There is one set of footprints not two. The Christian message is about a Saviour who came to earth as a baby but grew up to speak truth and meet people where they are at. He died on a cross for the things we have done wrong and then rose again. Because of this we can receive his love and forgiveness if we ask Jesus into our heart. The bible says come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I can look back and see how the Lord was at work in my life before I was a Christian keeping me and guiding me but I know that my life was transformed when I took the step of asking Jesus into my heart. My journey has been an adventure. There have been ups and downs but God has been faithful. To him that can do more than we can immeasurably ask and imagine. This is the God I worship at Christmas and throughout the year. This God is the same yesterday, today and forever and is there for all who call on him. He is there for you whatever your journey. God sees and knows everything about you. He does not come to condemn but to save. He loves you. He is waiting for you to ask him into your heart. The choice is yours.