It would seem that everybody goes through at least one period of time in their lives (and usually far more than one!) where they are waiting and hoping.  Often this involves waiting and hoping for an answer to prayer.

 There are those who struggle with illness and wait and hope for healing, either for themselves or for somebody close to them.  There are those who find themselves unemployed or underemployed and wait and hope for a suitable job.  There are those who fear that their children are heading down the wrong path and wait and hope for them to turn around and head in the right direction.  There are those who wait and hope that they will meet the right person – the one who will become their lifelong partner.

 Some wait and hope for a loved one to return to them safely after a time away.  Others wait and hope for a family member or a friend to be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ.  Still others wait and hope for the birth of a child.

 Those of you who have come through such times of waiting and hoping with a happy resolution know the absolute and profound joy that often accompanies such an experience.  Many of you have also experienced the profound sorrow of not having things turn out as you might have wished.

 During the season of Advent, we recall a time of waiting and hoping that was on a much larger scale than the experiences in our lives.  We wait and hope for many things that are, indeed, important.  However, imagine the many years of waiting and hoping and watching for the promised Saviour and Messiah.

 The words of many of the prophets which we hear during Advent were written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus.  A virgin would conceive and bear a son who would be called Immanuel – God is with us (Isa. 7:14)!  One would come from Bethlehem whose origin is “from of old,” who would rule in Israel (Mic. 5:2).  A child would be born who would be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6).

 Anybody who has ever waited expectantly for the birth of a child knows the joy and the relief that comes when the baby arrives safely and in good health.  How much more joy would there have been with the birth of the Saviour of the world!  Not only that, wouldn’t the wonder of those who believed that this child was the promised Saviour have been similar to that echoed by Martin Luther in “From Heaven Above?”

“O Lord, you have created all!  How did you come to be so small, To sweetly sleep in manger-bed Where lowing cattle lately fed?” (LBW 51)

 The season of Advent helps us to experience the joy of the birth of Christ by drawing us into the waiting and hoping that preceded his coming.  At the same time, the season connects with our own experiences of waiting and hoping for answers to prayer.  With our own waiting and hoping, we don’t always know ahead of time how things will turn out.  However, where God’s promises are involved, we know from the Scriptures that those promises will be fulfilled – even if it takes hundreds of years as it did with the birth of Jesus!

 A blessed Advent to you!
 Pastor Lynne H. Moore