God is with Us

What is the longest you have ever had to wait for something?

Seconds for your iPhone to connect to the internet? Minutes in 1998 for the esteemed dial-up AOL to connect to the internet? Hours in the Best Buy parking lot on Black Friday, like Amy? Days, months, years; we are all in the process of waiting.

A man named Abram had to wait 25 long years for the single most life-changing event to happen: the birth of his son.

It’s like me having to wait until I’m 50 before Jason and I are able to have kids. Incredible. (And I know some of you have gone through something very similar to Abram and Sarai.)

25 years Abram waited. God appeared and spoke to him and Sarai numerous times in those years, urging them to keep their eyes steady on the covenant He had made with them: a son would come, and the entire world would be blessed through him.

Then came laughter and joy through Isaac. Abe and Sarah delighted in their son. God had finally fulfilled His promise... or did He? God’s promise did not end with Isaac; Isaac was only the beginning of the promise fulfilled.

Many years later, Abraham’s descendants, the great nation of Israel, became troubled... a lot. They forgot God’s promises over and over again, and eventually Babylon and Assyria carried them away from their home, their inheritance, into captivity. Throughout their history, there had been hints, prophecies, of a coming King, whose rule would never end. They yearned for this King as they were enslaved, oppressed, mourning in exile. They wanted deliverance, someone to ransom them. They realized their need for salvation.

They sang from the Psalms, “Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved” (Psalm 80). They sought a Messiah, an Anointed One, to restore them to their home.

Five hundred years later, Israel found themselves occupied by Rome. They continued to long for a great warrior king, a priest. Someone to free them! God is faithful!

They received Jesus. Jesus, who, instead of overthrowing Rome, revolutionized the living of life itself. Who, instead of ruling through fear and violence, served through love and forgiveness. Who, instead of ostentatiously flaunting his position and power, lowered himself, even to death.

The Anointed One has come, fulfilling God’s promise. Jesus was worth the wait, but he wasn’t what was expected.

Now, we wait for the Messiah’s return, for God to make all things new. “Everything God made is waiting with excitement for God to show his children’s glory completely,” says Romans 8:19.

Centuries of expectations have led us to this point. We long for a day when we get to see this God that we love and worship face to face. Our bodies and souls yearn for completeness and intimacy that can’t come from any human relationship. We’re tired of violence and manipulation and the pursuit of power- we thirst for peace and freedom. We are eager to see suffering turned into joy, and mourning to dancing. And it will be beyond our expectations.

What are you waiting for?

Are you living right now in eager expectation of the promise: Jesus, our Savior, making everything new? Are you participating right now in God’s promise to bless the entire world? May we realize that, in our waiting for our Isaacs, for freedom from captivity to the things of the world, for Jesus to fix the brokenness, He has been there all along. Immanuel: God is with us.


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By Amanda
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Waiting in Line

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Now we are just a few days away from Christmas. Crazy, huh? Speaking of crazy, were you one of the ‘crazies’ that were out on Thanksgiving night waiting in a parking lot somewhere? When I say ‘crazies’ I mean it in a good way and I am also referring to myself. My niece and I went to Best Buy around 8:00 and there were about 100 people in front of us. And of course throughout the evening, people were behind us wrapped around the building. We waited until 10:00 when they passed out tickets for certain items. We didn’t get the ticket we went for, but we waited until 12:00 since we had already waited so long and ended up getting a few good deals. This got me to thinking about the waiting in line people do, especially on black Friday and of course now on Thanksgiving night. People were camped out at Best Buy since Wednesday! So they spent Thanksgiving day in a parking lot. They must have taken shifts or something. I don’t know. But people, myself included, will wait in line for hours for stuff – material items that will not matter when this life is over. Matthew 6:19-21 says “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroys, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” As I was saying earlier, this got me to thinking. We will wait in line for a material item for hours. I wonder if we would wait in line for hours to hear the gospel preached? We will sit and watch a movie with no problem, even a long movie, but we have a fit if the preacher goes over a few minutes. I wonder if we would wait in line for hours to help people in need? Or are we like the priest and Levite who passed on by, not even lending a few minutes let alone hours to help someone in need. I wonder if we would wait in line for hours to see Jesus? Luke 8:40 says “And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.” The verse doesn’t say how long they waited, but the fact is they waited. If we can wait for hours for a ‘thing’ why can’t we spend hours (or even one hour) in reading the word of God? Now you may do so and that is great; but, shamefully, I admit that I do not spend hours in the word of God on a daily basis. I write this to encourage myself, and if it encourages someone else along the way, then wonderful. Come next Thanksgiving, you will possibly find me in a parking lot somewhere waiting for something. I just hope that between now and then I would have spent that same amount of time and hopefully lots more in the things that will really matter when this life is ore. Thank you for letting me share my thoughts with you. I would love to hear your thoughts as well. I wish you and yours a very happy holiday season and a wonderful 2012!


Proverbs 8:34 “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts.”


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By Amy
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- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad