Waiting
Image: Alex Shute on Unsplash
Earlier this week I visited a local primary school to take an assembly on Advent. The hall filled up with very excited children who had been allowed to wear Christmas jumpers.
We started with a game where two children squeezed into a large jumper and using one hand each had to work together to wrap a present!
I then explained that Advent means arrival, referring to the birth of Jesus, and that for many Christians it is a time of reflection and preparation.
I told them of the time when my wife discovered she was expecting our first child and in anticipation of the birth we had to get lots of things ready.
This included preparing a room and buying all the necessary items such as a cot, pushchair, and my favourite bit, lots of toys!
We then looked at an ancient Bible verse found in the book of Isaiah which says…
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
This was a prophetic statement foretelling the arrival of the Messiah (Jesus). To help the children understand the timeline from when this was said and the birth of Jesus, I got out a long piece of rope and we counted off roughly 700 years.
If Jesus was born in 2025 then 700 years before that is 1325, when Edward II was King of England!
It’s hard to comprehend that what God revealed to Isaiah took 700 years before it happened. God’s purposes and plans are far beyond my understanding.
It reminds me that waiting on God can be hard. That’s because we have to trust Him and what He said will be done in His timescale and not ours. We have to relinquish control.
I’m sure we have all been frustrated in queues in shops or whilst driving. In a world where we want everything now, waiting is not something we tolerate.
In this season of Advent, I don’t know what you are waiting for, or for how long. Let me encourage you to focus on God, trust in Him and His timings.
God bless you :)
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader