Waiting Christmas and discouragement
The Christmas season can be a rough time for more people than we might think. Everyone is already weathering the merciless scourgings of this Genesis 3 world. The miscarriage of a child. The separation of a spouse. The loss of a child. The letting-go from a job. The news of that diagnosis. The rebellion of a child. For many, Christmas time can be a ruthless reminder of that person or thing or blessing that we are without. Combine that with the pressure to feel merry, when some don’t, and it’s a battle. One particular difficulty is waiting. Often in life, we find ourselves waiting; waiting under the inscrutable sovereignty of God. Much of life can be summed up like this: we are about to enter a situation where we are waiting on the Lord, we are in a situation where we are waiting on the Lord, or we are coming out of a situation in which we were waiting. Waiting is nothing new for God’s people. Abraham and Sarah had a lengthy wait, from the time of the promise of a child until he was bor...