Doubt and Fear

 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (ESV) (Isaiah 40:28–31ESV).

 

I have found waiting often brings doubt and fear to cast a shadow over the great work of God in our lives. It seems God has been developing my ability to “wait” for all my life. Events and moments longed for deeply always seem to take the longest to develop. School, career, children, grandchildren, all of those “firsts: just seem forever in their fruition. Then, suddenly, it happens and I wonder how it could’ve been so fast. I find myself staring into the past, chagrined that I ever doubted or feared the outcome. Well, here we are on the threshold of Christmas and I wonder if Joseph and Mary had those same feelings as they waited for the birth of this miraculous child.

 

Our reading today gives us an insight worth understanding. The context of our reading today is after Israel had lived in exile for 70 years. They knew the frustration of waiting very well. Although Isaiah prophesied a rescuer would come, it became more difficult with each passing year to believe the promise. When days turn to months, and months turn to years, the answer for our hearts that have become sick from deferred hope is simply to trust in the power and character of God.

 

When we wait well, we learn to trust God with our lives. Jesus’ birth is proof that God’s plan is worth the wait. Jesus did more than save Israel. He saved the world and established an eternal kingdom, offering freedom from sin and a relationship with Hom for eternity. Wait on the Lord. Resist the urge to rush the process. Christmas— the arrival of God’s greatest promise— reminds us that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.