Advent: Tutoring Us in the Art of Waiting

Advent tutors us in the art and virtue of waiting. Waiting does not come easily to any of us. Especially during the holiday season, any idea of waiting is discarded. Stores pipe in Christmas carols from Thanksgiving Day (or earlier) to Christmas, to put shoppers in the mood to buy. Marketers do not want anyone to hesitate but rather to buy on impulse.

In direct opposition to this atmosphere of having it all—and having it right now—spiritual growth comes slowly. Our faith is built through the gradual year-in and year-out walking faithfully with our God and being faithful to him during exciting times and difficult times alike.

Indeed the Greek word for faith, pistos, means both faith (believing and trusting) and faithfulness (remaining constant and true). We often see these as two separate ideas. However, in the Christian life they are inextricably linked. To believe in Christ is to entrust one’s life to him as Lord and to walk faithfully with him, hand-in-hand, during good times and bad.

Sometimes we experience growth spurts or seasons when we sense God’s presence so close. However, in between times of marked spiritual growth or mountain top experiences, “faith can demand long, patient waiting, when nothing seems to be happening, and this is just as necessary to growth,” writes Maria Boulding. Recently I read this quote and realized how true it is! Often our deepest growth takes place during those long times of just being faithful in the mundane things of life.

Maria Boulding then ties this idea of faithfulness with Advent. “We sometimes have to go on doing the small, ordinary things while we wait for God, as Mary did while she waited for the birth of Jesus; we have to wait for his moment, and wait for his work to ripen in ourselves. It may sometimes be more fruitful in the end if we live with a lingering question, and grow slowly towards wisdom, than if we find a quick answer partly dictated by our own desires. The waiting changes us, schools us, teaches us to know God.”

Advent this year—and life in general—is teaching me to wait. I want to love the questions in my life right now. As I linger with those questions and remain faithful in all the little responsibilities of life, God will bring about the growth and the end results that he desires. Let me not try to prematurely answer the questions only to end up simply following my own will. Rather, let me like Mary, respond to the Lord: Here I am, your servant, let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38).

Maria Boulding, The Coming of God (Conception, MO: The Printery House, Conception Abbey, Inc., 2000), 40-41.

© 2018 Glenn E. Myers