I was recently driving in downtown San Francisco. If there ever was an argument for well thought out public transportation it is the downtown section of this city. Of course, I was not using any of the available means of public transportation since I had driven into the city just for the day. And as a result I found myself in the mess of one way streets, abundant pedestrians and a plethora of other cars trying to squeeze down tiny streets in their large profile SUVs. All this created a perfect storm of traffic which crawled through the downtown area, newly decorated for Christmas. On the one hand, I was going slow enough to take in the sites and see every window display…in detail. On the other hand, I was going so slow as to be envious of those who had chosen to stay at home and avoid the city altogether. What began to surface in this scenario was my growing impatience with the circumstances and my sense of entitlement. Why were all these people out today? Why had they chosen my day to come into the city? Why should I have to endure the crowds, the traffic, and most of all…the waiting? As much as I have attempted to have a different perspective, waiting still pushes my buttons. It disrupts my peace and I become increasingly impatient and disturbed by my surroundings. I have not learned well the lesson that Brother Lawrence, Jean-Pierre De Caussade or Henri Nouwen have championed of being present to the Holy in the moment. Instead I am flooded with impatience and frustration at the imposition of others on my schedule, my agenda and how I envisioned my life. It is one of my constant struggles and always leads me to the awareness of my own brokenness and need for God’s mercy.

What I have been discovering again and again (the repetition seems to be God’s only way to get through to me), is that waiting is part of the story God is writing. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he writes about the child born of the promise and power of the Spirit and the child born of the flesh, signifying the human attempt to make life happen. The story is of God’s promise to Abraham to give him descendants, more specifically a son. The promise is initially given in Genesis 12 when Abraham is seventy-five years old, yet the fulfillment of that promise is not for another twenty-five years. During those twenty–five years Abraham and his wife Sarah are aware that with each passing day the gift of a child seemingly grows more remote. In their desperation Abraham resorts to having a son with Hagar his slave. But this is not the child of promise, the child God had prepared as a blessing to Abraham. This was an attempt to manipulate their circumstances by their own performance and effort. God was deepening the faith of Abraham in the place of waiting. The attempts to circumvent the plan of God and achieve the desired outcome were a result of impatience in the waiting process. There is no doubt that it is hard to wait, even for the patriarchs of the faith. It took twenty-five years for God’s promise to be fulfilled and it came at a time when the only explanation for the blessing was God Himself. His plan eliminated all other possible explanations. His plan placed Him at the center of the outcome. His plan was dependent upon His presence and power. His plan called for faith in Him alone. Abraham’s efforts at circumventing the plan and speeding the outcomes proved ineffective in accomplishing God’s intention. Waiting was a part of the process.

Advent celebrates a time of waiting. As Abraham waited for a son, Israel waited for a Messiah, one who would deliver them from oppression and rule them with righteousness. As God had promised Abraham a son, He had promised Israel a Messiah. This Messiah was to come and bring hope and redemption to God’s people. This Messiah was to be the light and life of the world. This Messiah was God’s promised deliverer. Again, God chose to bring His promise in His time and so, for centuries Israel waited. Their history shows their impatience as they formed their own images and idols to worship, in hopes of speeding their deliverance. They engaged in a religious system dependent more on their effort than the promise and power of God. They grew impatient in their waiting. And then God, with great power and wisdom, fulfilled the promise in a way that could only be explained by His gracious intervention. He promised a young girl that she would conceive a child, not by the normal means, but by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It was to be a miraculous conception, in much the same way as Sarah’s conception had been miraculous. The child born in a manger was God’s promised miracle for all of humanity.

Central to these stories of God’s miracle is the theme of waiting. These stories call for waiting on God, and for God, to accomplish His good and gracious will for our lives. They call for a watching and listening for Him in the midst of all other stimulus surrounding life. They call for waiting as one of the primary manifestations of faith and primary means of deepening faith. In the midst of this Christmas season, waiting is central to our lives, because we wait expectantly for the fulfillment of the promise of God to restore us and make us whole. We wait for the power of God to work His miracle of further transformation in us. We wait for the Son who has come, and is to come again, offering redemption and renewal for all of life. We wait for Jesus.

In this advent season as you prepare to celebrate Christmas, may your waiting be full of expectation for His miracle in your life as your faith continues to grow and deepen in the One who is Christ the Lord.