Genesis 1:1–4 ‘Now the earth was formless and empty… and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’ (v2)
How does the Bible begin? You might want to say, ‘with creation’, but look closer: it begins with waiting.
Before God spoke the world into existence and time as we know it began, the Spirit was there, waiting, poised, hovering over the deep.
Waiting is a particularly frustrating activity. In fact, it doesn’t even feel like an event in itself, just the negative space between one thing and another.
Waiting is nothing more than a void we want to avoid. And yet at the start of the Bible, God is actively involved in waiting.
Here, waiting is not just a passive activity – the Spirit is present in the darkness, full of potential, itching to create and see life burst forth.
Advent invites us into a season of waiting as we reflect on Christ’s first coming and remember that we’re waiting for His second coming.
This is the theme we’re following this month, considering how people throughout the Bible dealt with seasons of waiting, and the saviour they were ultimately anticipating.
As we think about Christmas this year, it’s all too easy to get swept up in the practicalities and worries of the season without waiting actively, with a spirit of eagerness, for Jesus to meet with us in it.
We can lean into the period of waiting, feeling the tension of anticipation and celebrating it, knowing that God also felt that same anticipation before creation.
As it was in the beginning, darkness can be all too present, together with a feeling of emptiness, but the Spirit is right there with us too, ready to speak life into being.
A Prayer To Make:
‘Lord, before You created, You waited. As we try to escape Christmas stress, may we wait on You and eagerly anticipate Your Spirit’s creative work in our lives. Amen.’
An Action To Take:
Take some time today at the beginning of Advent to consciously decide to make it a spiritual season, not just a commercial one.
Scripture To Consider:
Gen. 1:26–31; Ps. 130:1–6; John 1:1–4; Col. 1:15–17
