The voice of Him
That crieth in the wilderness
Prepare ye the way of the Lord
Make straight in the desert
A highway for our God!
Wait a minute….what if Advent is really about revealing that Christ waits for us? Could it really be? Does the King of Kings wait for mere mortals? Like many of you, I have been forced to wait (and be still) more than I am comfortable with this year. But a strange thing has happened in this chaos: I have found a deeper level of faith than I had known in 2019 or before. I have sensed God’s Hand in more, felt Christ’s presence in simplest of solitary worship, and have seen the Holy Spirit’s guidance more in those around me. The Church Universal has once again been proven as not just brick and mortar (although, we have a nice new one almost ready to occupy), but rather revealed to us as a very real Being around and through all. It is becoming very evident to me, despite Satan’s best efforts, that Christ is truly with us. So, what are we waiting for, exactly? He hasn’t ever left and doesn’t do the “seasonal thing” like so many of us seem to do. We go in cycles, calendar hopping from here to there, ready to tear down yesterday’s decorations and put up the next. It’s as if we intend to “get back to” God but can’t seem to find the time. So, who is waiting on whom?
It’s fitting that during Advent, our traditional and measured time of waiting, that I have realized I am the one being patiently waited on. And it isn’t by someone who hasn’t ever experienced the darkness or the loneliness of isolation and despair. In a very real way, the One who hears and answers our cries in the wilderness was Himself there once. He isn’t waiting for us at the end of the long, dark, arduous journey, wringing His hands and hoping we find our way through. To the contrary, Jesus is walking this journey with us. And He patiently waits and understands when we delay. He stops when we are tired, corrects our straying, and urges us on.
He is our shepherd lovingly guiding His flock. So, cry out to Him. Cry out when you fall or get lost. Cry out when you are afraid and angry. Cry out in frustration with bad news, politicians, masks, distancing, and waiting. Cry out when your life looks “different” than it did before. That very well could be the point.
He waits for you. He waits for me.
Christ waits for us. And thanks be to God for that.