Waiting in Hope

I’m coming up on my six year anniversary of deploying to the mission field (January 24th). Looking back on six years can be overwhelming. A simple reflection leads to reminders of all of the things that God has done, all of the ways I have grown, all of the battles, all of the hard seasons, & all of the joys and blessings! To think back to this time six years ago, I was in a season of waiting. Waiting for paperwork to process. Waiting for the missions’ “greenlight” that my support network was strong enough to deploy.

Waiting.

The irony is not lost on me that six years later, Rafa and I find ourselves in much of the same place. Waiting. So much has changed, but a lot stays the same. We find ourselves in another season of waiting. Waiting for paperwork to process. Waiting for the national church of Chile to say it is time to come. Waiting to start the next chapter of our life together. In a lot of ways, it feels that we have been waiting for this move to Chile since we started dating and got married - this has always been the plan, this has always been the next step. 

Waiting.

You may not have deployed to a mission field or worked through a visa process to move to another country, but I can pretty much guarantee that you have experienced a season of waiting. Waiting to graduate from school, waiting to get married, waiting for that job interview, waiting. Seasons of waiting are filled with all kinds of emotions. It can be exciting, filled with anticipation. It can be frustrating, filled with questions. Maybe you are in such a season right now. 

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 the day long. Psalm 25:4-5

This psalm is a prayer of mine during this season's transition, “Make me to know YOUR ways, O Lord; [especially when I want my own way]; teach me YOUR paths [because I can’t see a path forward right now]. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for YOU are the God of my salvation; for YOU I wait all the day long [all the year long if needed and every day in the middle].” 

The New Living Translation finishes verse five of this psalm saying, “All day long I put my hope in You.” According to a quick interlinear Bible search, the Hebrew word we translate to “wait” here is translated in other parts of the bible as expect, wait patiently. The NLT chose to translate this Hebrew word as “hope”. 

Advent is here! The season of Advent is in itself a season of waiting. Waiting with hopeful expectation the celebration of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ - Christmas! There’s a hymn that verbalizes this season perfectly, “Come, Thou long expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us, Let us find our rest in Thee.” (LSB 338) Because of Christ, we can wait in hopeful expectation in our seasons of waiting. We can wait with expectation of what is to come. We can WAIT in HOPE of God’s way forward in the middle of our own waiting.

In whatever season of waiting you are in, wait in hope with me.