Whether you mark it in a formal way or not, Advent is a season of waiting. I don’t think there’s a single child in the country this month who’s not counting “how many sleeps” until Christmas Day, even while their parents are silently hoping for just “a few more sleeps” to get everything done.
Waiting is hard. Though we likely don’t find it as hard to wait for Christmas as our kids (though maybe you do!), as adults we still find waiting hard. Whether we’re waiting for an appointment, to find out some news, for our winter cold to get better, for God to change our circumstances… we don’t like waiting.
God knows that we find waiting hard. David cries out “How long, LORD” in more than one Psalm, Habakkuk asks how long he must call to God for help (Hab.1v2), even the martyred saints are calling out, asking God how long until he comes in judgment (Rev.6v10). The Bible is full of people waiting.
