Clinging to Hope: An Advent StudyShembull

WAIT ON THE LORD It can be easy to assume that our unanswered prayers mean God isn’t working and moving. In fact, nothing could be more untrue. He is always working and moving – in His divine timing, not ours. In today’s reading from Luke, the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to let him know that after all these years of waiting, he will become a father. Now! Even though he and his wife are “ advanced in age .” Can you imagine what that must have felt like? The answered prayer they’d been waiting for coming at the absolute most unlikely of times. Yet, God’s timing is always perfect. In the passage in 2 Corinthians, Paul reminds the readers that they can put their hope in God because he has delivered his people before. We can look at God’s faithfulness over the generations to deliver his people and have hope in our own deliverance. In the meantime, how we wait matters. Even when it’s hard to see what the next step is. Even when it’s painful. Even when… (insert whatever it might be). Pause to Pray: Use this simple tool for a moment of silence and solitude. 1- Take ten deep breaths – with each inhale, pray silently “Jesus,” and on the exhale, pray, “My hope is in You.” 2- Read 2 Corinthians 1:10 multiple times. Open your heart and mind to what God is speaking to you as you wait for Him in this season. 3- Form your prayer around anything God reveals to you (praise, confession, thanksgiving, requests). Take a Next Step: As you work on memorizing Psalm 130:5, create a scripture image and share it with a friend. “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope”