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.


-----------
By Amanda
-----------

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad