Right now I'm in advent over my future. What does God have in store for me? Now is the time when people are making decisions for what they will be doing next year and I am not exempt from this responsibility.
Will I pursue music? Will I go on more missions? Does God have someone He wants me to court and marry? Will I live at home or move on my own? Will I be able to get a steady job?
All of these things weigh heavily on me, but I also look forward to them with joyful anticipation. I know that many of my fellow Reachers are going through similar things. They are applying for grad schools, interviewing for youth minister positions, planning and discerning what will come next, living in faith that God will continue to lead them even when they can't see further than one step ahead, trusting that, as it says in one of my newly favorite songs, "You've never failed, you won't start now!"
Ever year during the season of Advent, we wait to experience again and again the joy of Jesus's first coming that the world experienced two thousand years ago, but we also look forward to and are reminded of His future coming. We hear stories of people who waited and waited for Jesus- Isaiah who prophesied His coming, Mary who waited nine months for her precious child to come, stories that inspire wonder and awe and the desire to be patient. As I wait for my Lord in physical form, I am challenged to wait for His plan for my life, to surrender joyfully and wait. He knows all the little details and every single huge aspect of the plan. All I have to do is wait on Him, listen to Him, and respond to His directions, whether in action or in the moments He simply asks me to sit and be still awhile. Those quiet moments are often the hardest, but most rewarding. I encourage you, dear friend, to surrender every project, plan, relationship, idea, every piece of you to Him every day. It is difficult and is a life time process, but let us start now and not wait for a "better time". Let us start the journey of surrender now and continue to look forward to the coming of our Lord.
To conclude, I want to share a beautiful advent prayer that one of my teammates found this morning:
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a wonder at the wisdom and power of Your Father and ours. Receive my prayer as part of my service of the Lord who enlists me in God's own work for justice.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a hunger for peace: peace in the world, peace in my home, peace in myself.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me a joy responsive to the Father's joy. I seek His will so I can serve with gladness, singing and love.
Come, long-expected Jesus. Excite in me the joy and love and peace it is right to bring to the manger of my Lord. Raise in me, too, sober reverence for the God who acted there, hearty gratitude for the life begun there, and spirited resolution to serve the Father and Son.
I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, whose advent I hail. Amen.
