Waiting.
I got my first cell phone just over nine years ago. I was one of those hold-outs who really didn’t
want to have one, but was becoming so busy and involved in different groups and
events that it was a necessity. Getting
this phone also coincided with my first break up and a ten day trip to Ireland
that my sister and I took. While we were
in Ireland, I remember getting off the tour bus at a look out point. There was fog everywhere. Then I saw this bench. I remember it catching my attention. This
bench was nestled in the fog. You could
sit and wait, but wouldn’t know when what you were waiting for would arrive
until it was beside you. I snapped a
picture and used it as the backdrop on my phone.
I remember praying through my own heartache at the time, and
God giving me the word “waiting.”
Having struggled with being single, I assumed His giving me
that word was strictly meant for my relationship status. Wait for Mr. Right to come along. Wait until I’m ready for a relationship. That sort of a thing.
But what I have come to discover in the last nine years, is
that “Waiting” is the anthem for my life.
A year after I took the picture of the bench, I was waiting to find out
news about the tumour doctors found in my Mom’s colon. Then I was waiting to finish school, a
process which took far longer than the original five year plan I had had when I
graduated high school. I met Jordan and
then I was waiting to be closer to him, which took a year longer than
anticipated when I was offered a job in BC.
I have been waiting for jobs.
Waiting for friends. Waiting for
God.
But today I find myself waiting for peace.
As I was getting ready this morning, I found myself thinking
about the sermon from Sunday. Advent
starts next week, and our new pastor, who makes me look tame when it comes to
celebrating Christmas, did a pre-Advent sermon.
He talked about the fulfillment Christ brings. How He is our constant companion, the answer
to our conflict, and ultimately our Peace.
How nothing we desire will fill the empty space within but God.
This morning I was thinking about Advent. About waiting. About anticipation. I was thinking of Israel waiting for their
Messiah, not knowing when He would come.
I thought of sitting on that bench in Ireland in the fog,
waiting for what I couldn’t see.
I have said this before.
I love plans. I love knowing how
things will work out. I love being
prepared. But God has been continually
teaching me to wait. To rest in
Him. And to try to wait in anticipation
for Him.
Right now I find myself heading into the Advent season, and
it is the start of another season of waiting for me.
For all who are waiting, may we be reminded that the Prince
of Peace is our Emmanuel, which means our Peace is with us.
