"The Lord is my portion, therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him." Lamentations 3:24-25
Christian Churches around the world are currently in the Season of Advent, a waiting period of time prior to the celebration of Christmas that allows us to prepare our hearts for the birth of our Savior. Advent is marked by a spirit of expectation, of anticipation, of preparation, and of longing. It is a time to focus on four specific portions of the CHRISTmas story and remember that prophecy spoke of his arrival centuries ago, that angels announced His arrival, that lowly shepherds were the first to hear the good news, and that God’s Word was fulfilled on that cold night long ago in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.
The word Advent means "coming" or "arrival." The focus of the entire season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus the Christ in his First Advent, and for believers we also can view this time as a reminder to be anticipating the return of Christ the King in his Second Advent. Thus, Advent is far more than simply marking a 2,000 year old event in history. It is celebrating a truth about God, the revelation of God in Christ and the promise which is the hope that lies within us as Christians.
Advent is filled with symbols of our faith. Historically, the primary sanctuary color of Advent is Purple. This is the color of penitence and fasting as well as the color of royalty to welcome the Advent of the King. The Advent wreath is a symbol of the beginning of the Christmas season and a opportunity to tell the Christmas story. The circle of the wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end. The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. Candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His Son.
Grace Harbor has chosen these four themes for our Advent focus each week during December:
The four candles themselves also traditionally symbolize the four centuries of waiting between the prophet Malachi and the birth of Christ.
Isn’t it inspiring to consider that God often begins with small things and inadequate people? It certainly seems that God could have chosen "bigger" things and "better" people to do His work in the world. Yet if God can use them, and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means that He might be able to use each of us even when we feel inadequate, and unwise, and too often lacking in faith. And it means that we need to be careful that we do not put limits on what God can do with the smallest things, the most unlikely of people, in the most hopeless of circumstances. We should be waiting EXPECTANTLY upon our Lord and Savior. There's a difference between waiting and waiting ‘expectantly’. It takes faith to wait expectantly for the Lord to come through. How often do we wait lacking faith and lacking hope? When we do that we feel like God isn’t going to come through so we might as well give up. We need to remind ourselves of God’s total trustworthiness and His faithfulness. He knows the situation we’re in and all that we are facing. He won’t forsake us to face it alone. He can be trusted completely. As we keep on reminding ourselves of this and remember past experiences where God came through, our faith can be built up so we are able to wait ‘expectantly’. This is part of the wonder of the Advent Season and part of our meditation today, that we have been given a great promise, and on Christmas Day, our Savior was born. Our “Advent” is His coming the first time to take away the sin of the world, and His Second Coming will be soon to take us all home. Isn’t that exciting!
Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called:
Shalom, sister Lahoma
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