Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.
-Psalm 25:5

Next Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent. For those of you who don't schedule your life by the church calendar, Advent is the season before Christmas: four Sunday of waiting for the Christ to be born. It's how we begin the Christian year - waiting.

Waiting is part of life. Sometimes it's exciting. Waiting to move out, to see a friend, to hear of the birth of a child, to take a trip... this sort of anticipation can be wonderful. These are the times when waiting is half the fun. Then there are times when waiting is stressful. Waiting to hear about that new job, or about the tests at the doctor's office, or about a loved one who is dying can be harder. But there's no way around it: we all have to wait.

Waiting is also a part of our spiritual life. We wait for God. We wait to hear God's voice, to know God's will. We wait for God's presence to feel real, and we wait for God to bring healing and transformation. As people of faith, we are asked to trust that God is our salvation. So even as we experience God's love at work in our hearts and our world, we're still waiting for more of the same. We wait for God's salvation to be complete. Our hope tells us that the waiting is worth it, but that doesn't make it easy.

Some two thousand years ago, God showed up in a new way. In a Bethlehem stable, a child was born... an infant who was small and vulnerable and completely dependent on others to take care of him. But in time, that child grew, and reached out to share God's love with the world. In all of this, God was present with us in a new way.

God is still appearing, still appearing, still surprising. And just as the prophets waited for the Christ, we still wait for God to show up in our lives in a new way. During this season of Advent, take some time to ask yourself: where in your life are you waiting for God? How do you keep the faith while you wait?

If you need some encouragement, perhaps these excerpts from Psalm 25 can help...

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul...
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all day long.
Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.
For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great...
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
Relieve the troubles of my heart, and bring me out of my distress.
Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins...
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you...