Waiting at Christmas

This past November, just after Halloween, the stores set up their Christmas displays. Though what is known as the “Christmas Creep” has been happening for quite a few years now, I almost found it shocking. One afternoon, I was doing my grocery shopping, turned a corner, and found myself in Santa’s Workshop. All I could see was red and green, and everything within me seemed to say:

It’s too soon.

Christmas is such a wonderful and celebratory time of year. It’s a time of giving, going to parties, being with our loved ones, and for those of us who believe, it is a special time to celebrate Jesus’s birth. But sometimes, we don’t feel ready to celebrate.

Though we may love so much of what this season brings, there are years it feels like something is missing. We may or may not be able to put our finger on it, yet deep down, it doesn’t feel like Christmas. It could be that we have lost something or someone very dear to us. Perhaps life hasn’t felt joyful for a long time. Or maybe it is because:

We are waiting.

We’ve been holding on for an overdue promotion, the dream of a spouse, or the answer to a long ago asked question. Our unmet desire weighs heavily upon us as the Holidays draw near. We don’t want to be the local Scrooge, yet it takes everything within us to engage in all of the Christmas spirit.

During these years, the whole month of December is hard. I know, because I have had a few Scrooge like Christmases. And I have to admit some dark stuff happened this fall that made me wonder if this year would be another one. But then, I remembered Advent.

While so much of our culture focuses on the celebration part of the holidays, Advent is this tiny four week period leading up to Christmas, that is all about waiting. Full of stories about people like you and me, it keeps me grounded during the season. Recalling the many times in the Old Testament that the Israelites waited for God to move on their behalf, and culminating in the wait for the Messiah, Advent reminds us that we too, have hope.

As shopping ads, Christmas cards, and party invitations fill our mailboxes this month, we have the opportunity to transcend tradition for a glimpse of the eternal. Through enmeshing ourselves in the stories of people, who thousands of years ago, endured difficult times of waiting—and who, because of their faith, were met by God—we are able to be powerfully reminded that our current circumstances aren’t the end of our story.

During Advent, we can escape the holiday craze for a moment and enter into the story of the Israelites waiting for the Messiah. Like those of us who are waiting for important things in our lives, the Israelites waited for God to move. They waited for the One who could change their circumstances. And they discovered how true the words of Isaiah are, when he said:

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him (Isaiah 64:4).”

God is real. God is moving. But so many of us have gotten caught up in our lives or the darkness of our world that we have forgotten. Or, some of us have never experienced His love up close, so it is difficult to believe.

If you are entering this season feeling like Scrooge, if you are having a hard time celebrating because you are in the waiting, I invite you to join me and many others in observing Advent. Through attending church services, finding Advent devotionals online or purchasing a book (this one is my favorite), take part in remembering all what God has done in the past. In doing so, you may discover the Hope and Peace that comes from knowing God truly is working in your present and in your future.