Hopes, Dreams, & the Arrival

We all have something in common: sometimes we have to wait for things. Although as 21st century Americans, we hardly wait for anything, nor do we like to. When it comes to fulfilling our heart’s desires, most are met with immediate gratification. However, sometimes the special, unique, and specific things in our lives that we deeply hope and dream about, we end up waiting for indefinitely. This time period can be exciting but is more often filled with incredible anxiety and tension. Especially if we are uncertain if what we hope and dream for will ever come to pass. 

I’m reminded of this reality every year when I celebrate Advent. If you’re not familiar with the Advent holiday, it’s kind of like a countdown to Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas day. The word Advent means Arrival. As we await the day of Christ’s birth, we read scripture that foretells that Jesus would come as all of creation waits in eager expectation for its Savior from a broken world. 

The past 3 years of celebrating Advent have been especially significant because I have celebrated as a married woman.  I look at my husband during this time and am in awe that he is with me. I’m reminded of a time in my life when I waited for him. I remember all the nights I ugly sobbed alone in my bed asking the Lord where my man was. With all the dating mistakes, breakups, disappointments, and even the widows at church wedding their second spouse, I felt like the waiting was literally going to be the death of me.   I walked down the aisle on December 21st 2019 to the lyrics of Hillsong’s Seasons, as it captured the essence of what the seasons of waiting and trusting God can look like, no matter how long we have to wait for it. 

For me, the hope and dream of having a spouse and a partner to do life with was ultimately fulfilled; but if you’re married, you know that the deepest longings of our hearts will never be completely fulfilled in our relationship with our spouses. I believe whatever “the thing” is that we hope and dream for, is designed to remind us that we partner with all of creation in anticipation of complete union with our Creator. 

This is who Jesus is, and this was what Jesus started when He was born. We celebrate during Advent the arrival of the One brought into this world to be Immanuel, “God with us,” the connector that brings ultimate peace and wholeness. As Christians, we can be confident that He has come to make all things right; and as we wait for Him, we can freely hope and dream.  Whether those dreams arrive or not, we are never alone in the tension of waiting for what our hearts hope for. May the tension of waiting sink you deeper into the ultimate hope that God has for us all—to be with us in perfect unity.

1.     What are you waiting for? What does your heart long for?

2.     What is something that you dreamed about that was fulfilled?

3.     What do you believe that Jesus’ arrival means for you, for us, for this world?

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.

(Psalms 130:5 NIV)

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 (Isaiah 9:6 NIV)

Alex Parsons

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