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Waiting is hard. I hate waiting! Waiting for my husband to return from deployment. Waiting for children to arrive for the holidays. Waiting for answers from doctors or news about employment can drag on, making minutes feel like hours, hours feel like days, and days feel like years.
Waiting is hard.
Waiting on God is often my most challenging job. His plan and timing are perfect but often don’t match my plans. I still make plans and pray that God will bless them instead of praying and asking Him what His plans are. When I pray and request, I forget to wait for His time, which usually causes more problems. I am not the first to struggle with waiting.
Throughout the Old Testament, God sent prophets to remind people of His plan and His timing. The first candle in the advent wreath represents the prophets. The candle across from the pink candle is the first one we light. This candle reminds us of the prophets shining a light into the darkness surrounding the people. They experienced God’s goodness, faithfulness, mercy, and lovingkindness. God shared prophecies about His Redeemer, Son, and faithful servant with His prophets to give them hope.
God shared many prophecies with Isaiah. Many of these words from God are about Jesus’ birth. Some are about Him being the light in the darkness, as our Advent Candles represent. God reminded Isaiah of the seven parts of His Spirit and how people would know Jesus is the Messiah—prophecies about His life and how He would draw Gentiles to God.
Daniel shared about Christ’s Second Coming. He would come as a baby, but He would also come as a King to reign over all the earth. Micah shared where Jesus would be born, a detail the Magi used to seek Him when He was born. Hosea shared about Him coming out of Egypt. Zechariah spoke of His entrance into Jerusalem for the Passover celebration.
Many psalms are considered prophetic as they speak about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Psalms 22, 31, and 41 remind us about His death and resurrection. Jesus fulfilled God’s covenant with Abraham and David. His genealogy listed in Matthew and Luke shows the fulfillment of God’s promises.
All these prophecies remind us of the hope we received at the birth of Jesus. They remind us to look with hope to the future return of our King of Kings coming in glory. As we light the first candle, we remember God is waiting for people to turn to Him and accept His gift of salvation. We wait with the hope of the prophets for the Second Coming of Christ our King.
Scriptures to meditate upon while we wait on God’s plan and timing
Isaiah 60:1-5
Isaiah 7:14
Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7
Isaiah 11:2-4
Daniel 7:13-14
Micah 5:2
Hymns to sing with your family
O Come O Come Emmanuel
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
This blog is also featured on Jennifer's website in her series Advent Matters. You can enjoy more of Jennifer's insights further on her website's blog. Click here: https://www.jenniferwake.com/my-blog
Jennifer Wake is the 2023 AFI Fort Belvoir Spouse of the Year. She is an Army wife, mother of 3 grown children, teacher, and writer. She is a chemistry/physics teacher by trade, an Accredited Financial Counselor by interest, and a writer/speaker of God’s Word by His calling. She is married to an Army Chaplain and has served in chapels in various locations, from Germany to the Mojave Desert. Over the past 25 years, she has made a home for the Wakes 14 times and persevered through multiple deployments. God has called her to mentor military spouses, especially chaplain spouses who serve sacrificially. Her passions include writing books and blogs, developing Bible training material, networking with women in the military, and professional quilting. She volunteers with Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) wherever she is stationed and with Planting Roots, a ministry for military women by military women. She resides in Springfield, VA, with her wonderful husband and dog and enjoys her quilting room.