by erika haveman
I’ve avoided saying it since I’ve restarted blogging, but it has been a year has it not? Personally God is bringing me deeper than He’s ever brought me before but all of our lives have been effected by COVID in some way, shape or form. Living in a small town I can confess I don’t feel the grand effects of it quite as intensely as someone from the city but my life has still revolved around COVID since March when I spoke boldly to a coworker, “Everything is fine. We can send the outreach teams to Asia. This isn’t a big deal.”
We didn’t send the teams to Asia. I have never been more wrong.
That’s really how my year has played out: I have never been more wrong.
Last night I was reading the story of Noah and it struck me just how long he was in the Ark. He got into the boat on the 17th day of the 2nd month (Gen. 7:6-11) and it wasn’t until the 27th day of the 2nd month a year later that he was told to leave the Ark (Gen. 8:14-15). That is a long time to wait.
It’s a long time to wait.
When I look back on this year what I think I got really wrong on just about everything was timing. I thought my visa would come after 2 weeks. I thought COVID would be a short lived phenomenon of fear. It’d been about a year and a half so I thought it’s high time I should date again. The truth is I always think I know when the time is right for God to move because quite frankly if He moves on my time then I never have to wait.
If I look at the Bible a lot of people waited. It really is an underlying theme. Adam waited for a wife (albeit he had no idea that’s what he was waiting for). Noah waited for the floodwaters to recede. Abraham waited for a son. Jacob waited to be reunited with his brother Esau. Joseph waited to see if he would ever see his family again. Israel waited to be delivered from Egypt. I mean I could go on but I’ll skip ahead to the climactic event: the Jewish people waited for a Messiah. Then when Messiah showed up they didn’t believe it was Him.
At least with Noah it was super obvious when the waiting was over. Noah’s story really is the most ideal kind of waiting scenario: literally can’t get off the boat until you see dry land.
For most of us waiting is much more ambiguous. There’s no clear direction. We are walking forward pretty blindly. We use words like trust and faith. Of course Noah had to have trust and faith that he wouldn’t just be living in a smelly ship for the rest of his life. So I guess maybe his wasn’t quite ideal or obvious. I’m sure he had days when he just had no idea when the end would happen.
That’s where we all find ourselves now. We have no idea when life will level out and COVID won’t dictate who we can spend time with and how we can spend time with them or where we can travel. I had no idea when my visa would come through. I’m still waiting to date again.
So what is it about waiting?
I know I’ve blogged about waiting and will blog again about waiting and I once wrote a thesis paper on waiting. I based the paper on 2 Chronicles 36:23 which says,
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up, and may the Lord their God be with them.’”
This passage is urging the people to wait patiently for the Messiah promised them by going to the temple to worship. It requires understanding of the context, what was happening in the middle east at the time. The Jewish people had been released from captivity and returned to Jerusalem, which was now a charred and ruined city. They rebuilt the walls of the city and the temple, but it didn’t have its former glory. The people were mourning the loss of God’s presence since they had known God’s presence to dwell in the Most Holy Place of the temple before exile. The Chronicler, in this very short passage, is reminding the people that God was faithful to give Himself to Israel before (most obviously to the nation of Israel when he led them out of Egypt in a pillar of fire/smoke and later in the tabernacle) and God will be faithful to give Himself to the people again. The people needed to stay faithful to worshiping God while they waited for His reappearing.
While I wait do I stay faithful to what I want to see God do or do I stay faithful to God?
Stop. Read that again. Here I’ll make it easier for you:
While I wait do I stay faithful to what I want to see God do or do I stay faithful to God?
Yeah, so I’ll be the first to confess I don’t stay faithful to God. I stay faithful to how I want to see Him take action on my hopes, my dreams, my goals, my tasks, my desires. What makes it so human is that all the things where I need Him to come through are good things. It’s good to hope and dream and have goals and get tasks done and desire. It’s counterintuitive to lay it all down and live with palms up and not step til God says go. More often than not God is saying, “Slow down. Just wait.”
It would be easier to rush ahead and try to get normal back. I’m sure we’ve all thought that more than once during these COVID months. But through this advent challenge yourself to harness the power of waiting.
Adam was presented with a wife. Noah watched as dry ground appeared. Abraham became a father at an impossible age. Jacob and Esau found camaraderie after fear. Joseph received love after abandonment. Israel was brought into salvation from slavery. Jesus gave all people access to Himself where previously God’s presence was limited.
Advent is here to remind us that waiting is worth it.
the rambling missionary 