This academic year, I've been taking a course on the Psalms. Each unit of the course is accompanied by a set of meditations. Below is a passage from one of this week's meditations, which are centered around Advent:
But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.
- 2 Peter 3: 8-9
Waiting.
We (I) often think that when God doesn't fulfill His promises to us (me), give me what I pray for right away, when I want whatever it is that I want, that He is simply being "slow about his promise." But God isn't being "slow"--God isn't "slow" in that sense; He isn't like me, who am not perfectly holy and intentional as He is. I'm human, and I'm a sinner. So, when I don't make good on a promise or deadline, it's likely that I'm swamped, lazy, distracted, or forgetful. But the Lord isn't like that--He doesn't just get swamped or distracted and is definitely not lazy.
And anyways, how long did God's people wait for the birth of Jesus Christ? They prayed and prayed for the promise of God, that He would send us a Savior, to be fulfilled in their time and in a way that they could see. Our forefathers waited and waited--Moses, David, the prophets--they all waited and were faithful, believing in God's promise of the Messiah, trusting in God's timing, even if that meant that they would not see the birth of Christ in their lifetimes on earth. It says in Hebrews 11:13, 39:
All of these (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them...all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not received what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect.
The Lord gave all these holy people, the "great cloud of witnesses," as it says a little later in Hebrews, His word, a promise, and this was their bread--they were satisfied with this promise. They did live to see the fulfillment of the promise of the Messiah on earth, and yet they did not become hardened toward the Lord and break His commandments. They remained obedient and faithful, grateful for what God gave them during their lifetimes.
In the New Testament, we also see examples of waiting, more "witnesses." In the Gospel of Luke, we see Anna and Simeon, who have been waiting for a very long time for the fulfillment of God's promise to them, that they would live to see Jesus Christ. They did not complain about the waiting. At the sight of the baby Jesus, they rejoice, and are filled with gratitude toward the Lord for His faithfulness. And good and sweet it must have been, overwhelmingly joyful for Anna and Simeon to finally see Jesus.
Their joy was a fruit of their waiting. As Peter says, "The Lord is not slow about his promise...he is patient with you." This is an interesting logic. Very succinctly Peter makes his point: it's not that God is slow--it's actually that we are impatient, and God is patient with us. The OT heroes could have said, "Well, because God hasn't sent the Messiah in my lifetime, God isn't faithful." But they didn't live with this kind of bitterness and lack of faith. They persevered. They submitted to the Lord, aware that God loves the whole of humanity enough to wait for the anointed and perfect time to send Jesus Christ into the world. The Lord waited for the right time to send Moses to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Lord did not wait so long because He forgot that His chosen people were suffering and dying. He waited with purpose, wisdom, and love. He waited for Moses to come along. He waited for the right time, the right person, Moses, to set His people free.
Just so, God waited for the right time to send His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the One who truly sets us all free from the slavery of sin and death.
Our God is a God who waits. He waits with us, because He is with us, which is why His name is "Emmanuel." We could think of Advent as a time during which we are waiting for Him to come again in glory, which is true, or as a time when He is waiting for us to move toward Him, which is also true. But Advent is also a season in which we can acknowledge that wherever we are, whether we're waiting for Him, or moving toward Him, He is with us. This is the glory of the Incarnation, that the Lord God enters fully into our condition, that He might know and have compassion for us in every respect; oh how Jesus must have suffered as he waited for the right time to bring Lazarus back to life. But he did it--he waited for the right time, even though he had great compassion for Mary and Martha, that is, he "suffered with" them.
Waiting well, being outside of and without anxiety about timing, is a part of God's "character." But it isn't exactly so for us, and so He loves us enough to want to give this "character trait" to us, because He wants us to be like Him. We often perceive seasons of waiting, such as Advent, as a time of preparation and discipline, which they are, but these seasons, are also His gift. Who am I, that the God of the universe, would be patient with me?
This is love. This is Love. God's waiting for us to return to Him is an expression of His love for us. Could we not do the same for Him? How could we not love Him in-return and receive this gift of waiting.
Come, Lord Jesus!
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