Three Simple Steps to Occupy Yourself in The Waiting
The Christmas season is a time filled with waiting. We wait for family members to come home; we wait for a big event like a party or a concert; we wait for the mail to come anticipating cards and entertaining annual letters; we wait for that special cookie or Christmas treat that a friend or favorite aunt makes; and we wait for the moment we are privileged to exchange gifts.
The Christmas story is filled with waiting. Israel had been waiting for the Messiah for years. Mary and Elizabeth both had to wait nine months. Simeon and Anna are perfect pictures of waiting as they looked for God’s Savior to come, and the wise men waited the length of their journey.
Help in the Waiting
Waiting is not fun, nor is it easy. My sweet Pastor husband talked a bit about waiting the first Sunday of Advent. He mentioned that we find it easier to wait if our time is occupied. I immediately thought of all the things to look at when you wait in line at Disneyland; I also envisioned the checkout line where I work, which is filled with all sorts of random items that are constantly whispering, “buy me!”
“We wait for the Lord; he is our help and shield.”
Psalm 33:20 CSB
Especially during Advent, as we anticipate Jesus’ coming, we are to wait for the Lord. It is the theme of Advent. To help with the waiting, we keep ourselves occupied and I fear we are so occupied we stop anticipating Jesus’ arrival. We become caught up in all the activities of Christmas forgetting who we celebrate.
Waiting and Hoping
The New Living Translation replaces the word wait in Psalm 33:20 with the word hope. Waiting and hope are intertwined; we wait for what we hope will happen. We are willing to wait for family members because we hope to create wonderful memories. We hope the party or concert will bring us fresh Christmas Spirit, so we wait eagerly. Our 6-year-old selves come out of hiding and we hope our loved ones will treat us to the ideal present, so we wait with anticipation. Waiting feels more tolerable because we have hope, a belief that what we wish will come true.
Our waiting for the Lord is our hoping for His intervention in our lives. The Psalmist completes that initial idea of waiting with the truth that He is our help and shield. This truth aligns perfectly with the idea that we wait better when we occupy ourselves with something.
The Magic Safety Barrier Lie
God’s Spirit gave me an “A-ha!” when I read this verse. He pointed out to me that I tend to see God’s help as a magic safety barrier. Somehow, someway I latched onto the concept that when I ask God to help me, protect me, or enable me to do something (like wait…) God will encase me in a magic bubble that will protect me. I know, it sounds ridiculous. And yet, perhaps you have a similar weird concept lurking in your faith.
Sadly, there is no magic bubble. God doesn’t provide perfect protection withholding all pain and discomfort. The fact that the Psalmist describes the Lord as a shield provides the image that we are in a war which is far from the whole magic safety barrier thing. And this is where the concept of being occupied comes in. When we hold the Lord up as a shield, He is what occupies us.
Occupy Yourself with God
If we want God’s help and if God is to be our shield, I see three steps we can take that will enable us to wait and hope in the Lord more effectively.
Step One
The first step is to hold our shield up. A shield does no good if it is hanging at our side. Since the Lord is our shield, we are to hold Him up in front of us. What does that mean? It means that we focus our attention on who God is, and all He is more than able to do.
The other night I was lying in bed finding it difficult to fall asleep. My mind was running out of control as I thought about an upcoming event my sweet Pastor husband and I were holding in our home. The devil was whispering lies to me and I was engaged in a war with anxiety and fear. I knew I needed to pull my shield up.
I lay in bed singing worship songs to myself in my head. I envisioned an actual shield covering me and protecting me. Over and over, I sang the Bill Gaither song, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, there’s just something about that name. Master, Savior, Jesus, like the fragrance after the rain…”
The Lord was my hope. I focused on Him, and I waited for Him to intervene on my behalf, calming my fears and freeing me from my anxious thoughts. At some point, without my realizing it, I fell asleep. Christ stood in the middle of my battle and rescued me.
Step Two
The second step is to hide behind the shield. That may seem obvious, but I’ve discovered we often hold up the Lord before us and then start running willy-nilly trying to gain control of the battle ourselves.
We must hold to the truth and the promises God provides, remaining within the safety of our shield. There is no stepping out on our own expecting God to catch up. If the Lord is our hope, then we wait for Him.
Part of living behind the shield is recognizing our own limitations. God is always the one who knows best, His wisdom is far beyond our own, and He sees what we cannot. We must choose to humble ourselves and release control to the One who we say is our Lord.
As I lay in bed the other night, singing to myself, I knew I needed to accept that however our event turned out, God was still the One in control. It made no difference how well I planned or how many hours I spent preparing. God wanted to know if I was offering Him a heart of service, or if I was seeking for others to compliment me on my fabulous party. I released my grip, and His Spirit began to remind me of scriptures that calmed my heart with His faithfulness.
Step Three
The third step is we must allow the shield to give us courage. God doesn’t want us to hide away all the time. He allows us space to draw near to Him and then He challenges us to step out in faith and obedience, still holding the shield in place. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:25 to keep in step with the Spirit. Where God leads, we are to follow.
The morning after my battle, I had work to do to prep for our event. I began the day with Jesus reading His Word, seeking to strengthen my hold on the Lord, my shield. Knowing I had limited time, I listed out the tasks I needed to accomplish, asking God which ones I was to do on that day, and which ones I could delay to the next day. As morning moved into afternoon, I prayed asking God, “what next?” I leaned repeatedly on His presence to reassure me and protect me from any recurrence of anxiety or fear.
Waiting and Expectations
With all the expectations we place on ourselves, “the most wonderful time of the year” is the perfect battle ground for the enemy to beat us down. We so long to experience all the joy and fun and wonder of the season, we forget Jesus is the One we are expecting.
God promises to be our hope, our help, and our shield. As trite as it may sound, He is the reason for the season. He wants to occupy all aspects of our celebration as we anticipate His birth.
Advent is for waiting. May we wait on the Lord; He is our hope and our shield.
I’m praying for you.
Christmas Planning Photo by Jess Bailey on Unsplash
