‘“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will fulfil the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.”’ (v14) Jeremiah 33:12–16
Waiting is challenging. Children often find the last few days leading up to Christmas unbearable. They sense the excitement, yet there is nothing they can do to speed its arrival.
Throughout the Old Testament, people of faith were invited to wait in expectation for the promised Messiah. Their lives, like ours, were subject to life’s ups and downs. In a country squeezed between two world powers (Egypt in the South and then whoever dominated in the North), they faced uncertainty from both the normal storms of life and the terrors of war.
Perhaps, the greatest witness to patient waiting is Job. A man who lost everything precious and lay ill, incapacitated, and had to discover the depth of his confidence in God. Such confidence can only ever be found over a period of time, where uncertainty wrestles with faith as we are tempted to question God’s promise of provision for our wilderness experience.
Advent serves as a reminder that immediate gratification may not be our present reality. Living every day with Jesus demands our patience. It’s why I consider, at the start of every day, Psalm 46:10: ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’
As we go in search of God, let’s be neither discouraged nor despondent at the turns our life takes (Heb. 11:13).
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Lam. 3:1–33; Isa. 30:15–26; James 5:7–16; Heb. 12:1–13.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: There are times when God invites us to keep going. When the going gets tough, are you able to find the resolve to keep walking with Jesus?
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, I am grateful that nothing is impossible with You. May I find my confidence in Your Word every day. Amen.’ (Luke 1:37)
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