And coming up at that very hour she (Anna) began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. – Luke 2:38
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Advent is a time of hopeful waiting. The question is: what are we waiting for? Life will frequently leave us disappointed and dissatisfied if we are waiting for the right time and the right things to make us feel the right way. Many of us can’t be happy until we land that dream job, achieve that life goal, meet that perfect mate, unclutter that schedule, overcome that health challenge, get out of that hard situation, fix that nagging problem, or discover that magic pill to satisfy us once and for all. It usually doesn’t come; if it does come, it doesn’t live up to our expectations; if it does live up to our expectation, it doesn’t last. And so, we wait. And we wait. And we wait our lives away. The reason we can’t find our satisfaction in the people, places and things of earth is because we were never meant to. Perhaps this frustration and futility is God’s gracious and loving way of showing us that our longings are not being fulfilled because we are not looking to Jesus to give to us what this world never can. As you and I wait for His second coming, because of His first coming, we can be set free from the bondage of sin and its enslaving desires and be fully happy with all that we have in Jesus. So, when you feel dissatisfied, let it be a gift from God to reorient your heart and redirect your gaze to the one place where real contentedness is found … the gift of His Son. Give Him your heart and He will give you His heart satisfaction. What are you waiting for?
