Waiting. Our minds work overtime to get us past it. Our bodies get busy to overcome it. Yet somewhere along the way we start believing we’ll never get through it. The truth is, however, waiting is never forever. Just as the dark of a sleepless night that stretches on and on eventually brightens with the break of dawn, the promise of Christ’s hope and love and joy in the midst of our waiting is that the light is coming!
When waiting feels like the death of our souls, Immanuel breaks in with His life.
And if we’re tempted to doubt the verity of such a statement, we can look at the way Jesus’ life began. In the dark of night. In the cold of a stable. His birth, His entry into the newness of life was a foreshadowing of His death – that moment when all the sins of the world threw Him into spiritual darkness.1 And He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).
And when He exhaled His final breath, darkness fell over the land (v.45). “The Light of the world descended into darkness in order to bring us into God’s beautiful light” (1 Peter 2:9) – to bring us into the warmth of God’s presence.1
The gospel, rooted in the love, light, and life of Christ, slipped silently into the cold world on one chilly evening, and it went out with the quaking of the earth and the darkening of skies. Yet, that’s not where the gospel ends. The Good News lives on in us. The Holy Spirit in us makes vessels of our bodies, full of love and light and life because we are hidden with Christ in God – for God’s glory, others’ gain, and our good.2
Hearts Like Nazareth
I’ve come to understand that walking through dark valleys – especially those of waiting for answers or a person or healing or newness or for grief to know relief – can feel like death. Perhaps it’s David’s words in Psalm 23 that have inspired such thoughts (v.4), but I suspect it’s also because it’s what I have felt and observed in others.
The darkness of such seasons feels bleak and unending, causing our thoughts to swirl and spiral – you know, when one idea pops into our minds and we allow it to become our fixation until our emotions and body and spirit believe it as truth. Ideas such as:
- I am alone → no one cares → God has abandoned me
- I will always feel like this → this is my life → there is no hope for change
- I am so broken → this feels like death → there is no life left to live
What begins as a true feeling takes root, and fed by lies and fears, eventually bears the fruit of total falsehood. Loneliness, sadness, brokenness are natural responses to wilderness wanderings and desert desperation, but they’re not meant to be definitive. Neither are they to be our forever destination. We are meant to walk through the dark valleys. And, no matter how we might feel otherwise, we’re not walking alone.
Since the feelings that come with waiting are never meant to be forever, we should take them to our Father – the One who has promised to be with us, to love us, to help us – always:
My God, my heart is Nazareth
The final stanza of Jon Guerra’s song, “Nazareth”
Come seek me in the lies I’ve lived
Be true, be kind, be still, be with me
In the heart of Nazareth
Deep in the heart of Nazareth
Allowing the dark to define our lives leads to death – death of what we’ve hoped for and dreamed of, death of freedom and abundant life in Christ. Instead, we can invite the Light of Christ inside us – to shine into our dark hearts and illuminate the lies we’ve believed. We cry out to our Savior to be with us. We choose life.
When we admit the ways we see our own hearts as ancient Nazareth – hidden, lost, disregarded – we’ll begin seeing the lies for what they are, the darkness for what it is. Then, as we allow ourselves to see our hearts more as the Nazareth of Jesus – that which is actually seen and found and beloved – the light of life dawns. Death and darkness get dispelled; new life emerges.
We cannot change the past or know the hiddenness of the future, but we can know Immanuel in the here-and-now – we can know that He remains with us and goes with us. We can trust that one day at a time He will walk with us, talk with us, and lead us into the life He has for us. These are the truths we grab hold of in our long seasons of waiting. We allow the healing balm of His love to ease our pain. We let His light flood the corners of our hearts that we’ve allowed to grow dark. We let the life of His truth guide us into the future, with hope and peace and joy – because He is Immanuel.
Jesus, and only Jesus, is our forevermore.
May we continue to see for ourselves what God is revealing to us. (Luke 2:15 MSG)
And, may the light and love of Christ break into your heart with a renewed faith for all He is doing — even when you cannot see it — because He is life.
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, Light of the world:
You are our light.
When all is darkness:
You are our light.
When our hearts are broken and we can’t find hope:
You are our light.
When we are afraid:
You are our light.
You are our God wrapped in rags and lying in a manger:
You are our light.
When we feel far from God:
You are our light.
You come before all things and in you all things hold together,
You are our light.
When we cannot understand:
You are our light.
Come quickly, Come Lord Jesus come,
We welcome you into our hearts,
into our lives, into our world.
You are our light.
Amen.
(Prayer by Matt Thiele for Christmas 2013, from justpray.org)
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – Tim Keller in his book, Hidden Christmas,^ pp.19, 23
- 2 — “For God’s glory, others’ gain, and our good” is a recurring prayer from JD Walt of Seedbed and The Wake Up Call.
- The final song of our Hiddenness Advent playlist sends us out with great rejoicing and truth-speaking, May we continue to praise our King and Counselor with great rejoicing, with words of truth and grace, with hope for new life in Him:
I was created for a purpose
An instrument that magnifies
Out of the shadows, out of the darkness
I’m walking in His marvelous light (so we say)
Rejoice, rejoice (let everything)
Let everything that has breath
- The Abiding Life newsletter will be coming out at the beginning of the year! You can still subscribe for future issues here.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days because developing rhythms is one way to aid us in quest to become more like Christ.
- It’s a little more natural to reflect on the past year in this coming week. What if our reflection included pondering our inner working and responses in addition to all we achieved or failed to do? What if our reflection gave space for the Spirit to speak into our souls, bringing with His words light and life? What if our reflection allowed us to release all anxiety and false beliefs, freeing us to embrace all that God has for us in the coming days, weeks, months, and year?
- And while it’s not a spiritual practice or rhythm, I invite you to share this site. This is such an important topic that I want as many people as possible to join us here. Together we’ll find support and encouragement and the simple truth that we are not alone in our struggles.
Featured Photo by Joshua Rodriguez on Unsplash.
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