We're only one day into Advent, but as I prepared for the season, one thing kept coming back to mind:
Be brave enough to wait.
There are two things in which I am sorely lacking: bravery and patience. So when I begin to fret about the future, I want to make choices immediately, and I want them to be the least risky choices, the choices that demand little from me.
There are some things in my life I sorely desire, but because they come with a lot of risks, I don't take the plunge. I'm not advocating that I should be imprudent, but that I should put the work and careful planning into pursuing the things God has laid on my heart but which scare me the most.
One of the reasons these plans scares me that they mean I will have to wait. For some reason at the tender age of 26 I have bought into this lie that I am running out of time and I have to hurry.
I have all the time I need for what God wants me to do, but I have the most difficult time believing this. The clock feels like it's ticking and I feel behind. I have to cram in the lesson at the last minute, and hopefully, I can finish the exam with an A.
Waiting for these things doesn't mean sitting twiddling my thumbs and it doesn't mean rushing the process like I did before big exams in college. There are many small steps I can take to get to my intended goal, but they scare me more than the big picture. The acts of daily faithfulness and their attendant tedium and monotony terrify me more than mountaintops or valleys. I want to be at the top of the peak, not grabbing onto the next bit of rock with all my might, not knowing when I will reach the top.
But Advent teaches that the good things are worth being brave enough to wait for. Not just good things, but The Good Thing, the manifestation of all of our hope. Bigger than any plans I have or that He has called me to is Him, and He is worth waiting for, and He is worth trusting as I wait and attend to the duties He has given me in the present.
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