Waiting does not come easily to us. Waiting is annoying, inefficient, and frustrating, especially when we have grown accustomed to convenience, immediacy, and gratification. While reading this passage, I found myself eagerly consuming all that God has done for me–how I have been enriched and strengthened in Christ, and I cannot wait for the strengthening that God will do for me in the future. I am ravenous for more! But, tucked quietly between the past-tense testimony of what God has done for us, and the future-tense promises of what God will do for us, the Apostle Paul describes our Christian condition: we are waiting for the revealing of our Lord. I cannot escape the possibilities for this word, wait. It is the hinge in the passage. Before wait, we are told what we have been given. After wait, we glimpse the future, and we see what will be. To wait is to dwell in the liminal space of God’s time: between what God has done and what God will do. To be sure, waiting is not doing nothing; waiting is allowing oneself to be open to the possibilities of God’s abundance, revealed in Jesus Christ. This is Advent. We are called to wait. I think about the wisdom of waiting. I think about not speaking too soon, of not jumping to conclusions, and of first seeking to understand. I ponder the virtue of patience. Wait with me. Wait with me for the revealing of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Gracious God, we give thanks to you for the abundant blessings in our lives. Amid the turbulence of our lives, we know that you have blessed us to be a blessing. With confidence in your faithfulness, we wait in joyful hope for the revelation of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Paul D. Dubois
Senior Student from Austin, Texas
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