>As we are in this first week of Advent, I thought it would be fitting to share the prayer points from yesterday’s early morning prayer meeting. We’ve decided to emphasize a different component of Advent each week leading up to Christmas. This week’s emphasis is WAITING.
There are actually two types of waiting that I’ve experienced in my life – active waiting and passive waiting. Passive waiting is the kind of waiting that is often fatalistic, resigning oneself to simply going wherever the ‘fates’ lead us. It’s passive in the sense that we just sit back and wait for the next chapter, season, fad, or whatever. Passive waiting almost always gets you into trouble. For example, how many of us have found ourselves in spiritual, emotional, mental, or even moral ruts when we are in a passive waiting period. We fall into sin. We get lazy. We lose focus, and next thing we know we take several detours before finally coming out of it.
Active waiting is a type of waiting that involves preparation and anticipation. It is the kind of waiting in which the person understands and believes that his actions while waiting actually have some part to play in bringing about the thing being waited for. For example, a bachelor actively waiting for the Lord to provide a spouse might spend time working on his character, growing in godliness, being missional, developing a vision for life, etc. This is different from a bachelor who wants so desperately to be married that he will hit all the single scenes and meat markets that he can. Such a plan really isn’t waiting at all.
As we wait for the return of the Lord Jesus, we can passively or actively wait. I’ll let 2 Peter 3:10-13 speak for itself, “10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”
Peter calls us to an active waiting where our character and lives should reflect our waiting, but also to speed its coming. I hope you’ll join me in praying to that end this first week of Advent.
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