The Hebrews 4:12 Blog

I don’t know about you, but Christmas is one of the craziest seasons of the year for me: finishing up classes, music programs, and Christmas assistance programs.  It almost seems like Christmas is a time for busyness instead of a time to relax.  In fact, I am almost more excited about Christmas being over than the holiday itself.  The truth is, despite all the busyness of the season, I always know when it is getting close; I can always look and see how many days, weeks, or months it is until the stress of Christmas is past!

What if we were anticipating Christmas but didn’t know when it would happen?  That is the situation the ancient Jews were in over 2,000 years ago.  They were anticipating the birth of the Messiah, the Promised One, but they didn’t know when or how it would happen.  Some thought that an Imperial Emperor would rise up and be the Messiah, others thought a raging rebel would overthrow the Roman Empire.  They were waiting for what would happen.  Most expected it to be loud and apparent, but in reality, this great ‘Imperial Emperor’, this ‘raging rebel’, would come softly as a baby born in a stable in Bethlehem.  Was this really who they were waiting for?  This couldn’t be what they were expecting.

We see throughout the entire Bible that God uses abnormal people and abnormal situations to work out his will.  He used David, a shepherd boy, to be the greatest earthly king of Israel.  He used Joseph, the second youngest of his family, to help a nation through a famine and establish the people of Israel.  He used a little baby, born to a poor carpenter, to be the sacrifice for all mankind so that we may be called sons of God.

Here is the issue: we must get over our waiting.  We cannot wait forever.  We must also come to accept that our waiting is over when the One we are waiting for has arrived.  When you're having a friend over or company for a party, you don’t stare out the window waiting for someone when everyone has arrived.  But the Jewish people have done just that: the One they were waiting for, the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, had come, and they failed to pull themselves away from the window and enjoy the party.

Some of you may still be waiting.  You’re looking out that window, waiting to see what life is about.  You’re waiting for that right opportunity or that right person to walk into your life to make it complete.  You know something is missing, but you are just waiting to see what it is.  You expect some major revelation to come to you and say, “This is it!  This is what you have been waiting for!”  But that’s not how it works.  You see, just like that first Christmas night, the thing that you are waiting for is quiet and gentle.  It is not the Imperial Emperor or the raging rebel, it is the Christ-child who was born over 2,000 years ago.  He is the One you have been waiting for.