Waiting...and Choosing
Cross-posted from AdventAgain.blogspot.com
Are we there yet? How many more days until Christmas, Mama? When can I open a present? How much longer? Waiting...is...hard...for those waiting...and for those who hear the questions! We're living in the season of waiting today. We know a big event is coming, we're preparing, we're excited and we're hoping for celebration and unlimited joy.
But even as we wait for tomorrow and the joy of Christmas, we know that today life is hard. It's hard to find all the money we need, patience we need, cooking skills required, time we need. It's also hard because real life continues. The demands of work, the death of a loved one, the child in the hospital, the child in addiction, the disappointment of being looked-over for promotion, the illness of a spouse, the loss of a job. Real life doesn't stop happening just because we're waiting on Christmas. In fact, this particular month may be harder than others. Many, many people struggle in the waiting for a miracle. As so it was for Mary and Joseph. Can you even imagine? They were waiting for something that was unbelievable!
Mary and Joseph were real people with real struggles and real pain. But the story shows us how people in pain and confusion make a very real choice. The choice to believe. The choice to trust. A choice to believe in a God that loves and loves only. Mary and Joseph both made very real and extremely difficult choices. My difficulties and disappointments, are simplistic compared with the journey of Mary and Joseph, but they are still my burdens and my pain. And maybe my pain and your pain won't end even as Christmas Day arrives. They may still weigh on our hearts this season, this day, this week. My mind may struggle to believe, to understand, to sort out all that life has given and taken.
But while we wait in the midst of our lives...we can also make the choice today to trust, to believe, to keep seeking, to keep doing the next right thing, even in the uncertainty. Isn't that what faith is? Believing without seeing? God never promised Mary, Joseph or you and me that life would be easy to understand, pain free, or anguish free but He did say this....I will save you, I will redeem you, I will take your burdens onto my shoulders, I hear your cry, I know you by name and you are mine.*
While we wait...trust, hope, pray, seek, ask, live, love, laugh, cry, breathe...breathe...breathe.
*Acts 16:31
Micah 6:4
Matthew 11:28
Exodus 3:7
Psalm 139
Isaiah 43:1
But even as we wait for tomorrow and the joy of Christmas, we know that today life is hard. It's hard to find all the money we need, patience we need, cooking skills required, time we need. It's also hard because real life continues. The demands of work, the death of a loved one, the child in the hospital, the child in addiction, the disappointment of being looked-over for promotion, the illness of a spouse, the loss of a job. Real life doesn't stop happening just because we're waiting on Christmas. In fact, this particular month may be harder than others. Many, many people struggle in the waiting for a miracle. As so it was for Mary and Joseph. Can you even imagine? They were waiting for something that was unbelievable!
Mary's story: "God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High.
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God." Luke 1
Joseph's story: "Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit....When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife." Matthew 1:1-25This is a holy story with God's fingerprints all over it. But let's remember that Mary and Joseph were human. I don't think it is a stretch to say that this news, given to them from an angel, HAD TO BE VERY DIFFICULT TO HEAR AND LIVE. Imagine going to your parents and sharing this news with them. Imagine the face of your parents and their great shock, disbelief, confusion, and disturbed hearts. Imagine your friends, your other family members...oh, the talk and the whispers that had to surround Mary and Joseph. I feel sure there was giggling, bad jokes, assumptions, and references to their character. It takes nine months for a baby to grow; that's a lot of time to live in a situation with ridicule, no proof of angels, and waiting and trusting.
Mary and Joseph were real people with real struggles and real pain. But the story shows us how people in pain and confusion make a very real choice. The choice to believe. The choice to trust. A choice to believe in a God that loves and loves only. Mary and Joseph both made very real and extremely difficult choices. My difficulties and disappointments, are simplistic compared with the journey of Mary and Joseph, but they are still my burdens and my pain. And maybe my pain and your pain won't end even as Christmas Day arrives. They may still weigh on our hearts this season, this day, this week. My mind may struggle to believe, to understand, to sort out all that life has given and taken.
But while we wait in the midst of our lives...we can also make the choice today to trust, to believe, to keep seeking, to keep doing the next right thing, even in the uncertainty. Isn't that what faith is? Believing without seeing? God never promised Mary, Joseph or you and me that life would be easy to understand, pain free, or anguish free but He did say this....I will save you, I will redeem you, I will take your burdens onto my shoulders, I hear your cry, I know you by name and you are mine.*
While we wait...trust, hope, pray, seek, ask, live, love, laugh, cry, breathe...breathe...breathe.
*Acts 16:31
Micah 6:4
Matthew 11:28
Exodus 3:7
Psalm 139
Isaiah 43:1
