Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.
Jesus, Matthew 6:33
Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (Psa 27:14)
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD! (Psa 31:24)
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him... Wait for the LORD and keep his way (Psa 37:7, 34)
I will wait for your name, for it is good, in the presence of the godly. (Psa 52:9)
For God alone my soul waits in silence... For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, (Psa 62:1, 5)
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. (Psa 130:5-6)
They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength (Isa 40:31)
From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. (Isa 64:4)
The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. (Lam 3:25-26)
Through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. (Gal 5:5) ...waiting for our blessed hope (Tit 2:13); ...eagerly waiting for him. (Heb 9:28); ...according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2Pe 3:13)
"Qarrtsiluni: This is the Inuit word for “sitting together in the darkness, quietly, waiting for something creative or important to occur.”" (S. Godin)
The Christian Season of Advent is a reminder of the great Qarrtsiluni, the dark, quiet, time when God's people waited for New Creation, the most important event in history. The stared at where they thought the horizon should be, and prayed, and hoped. (Although, to be fair, most of them didn't. Most of them got sick of waiting and either went to work for Rome, or went to work fighting Rome.)
Godin goes on, "The only difficult part is doing it. We’re buzzy people, inundated with noise, using it to hide from the important work that’s right in front of us."
What's our important work? We're seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We're seeking His Kingdom, sure of Christ's promise that "you will find." (Mat 7:7) To seek something in prayer is to wait for it. To wait for something long enough is to wait in darkness.
But what we seek is creative beyond our capabilities; it's a work of God. We must wait for Him. And it's important beyond our realization; He must do it. We must wait for Him.
The verses above show that waiting takes courage; it is hard.
But it is good. God blesses it. God keeps His word. God gives us strength. God will deliver the goods, in time. Our annual Advent season celebrates that in a big way. Listen to what is probably my favorite Old Testament reference to the arrival of Jesus, Isaiah 25:9,
It will be said on that day, "Behold! This is our God! We have waited for him, that he might save us! This is the LORD! We have waited for him! Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!!!"
God has done it. God will do it. "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." (Act 1:11)
We celebrate His Advent. We celebrate His presence. We celebrate His promise. We wait.
