Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient.
How did the season of Advent become the most frantic, stressful, and hectic of the whole year?
Even nature itself, with the onset of an earlier sunset, colder weather, snow on the ground, bids us to take it easy. Get indoors, relax. Put another log on the fire. Brew up some hot cocoa. Watch a movie. Read.
The debate goes on about taking "Christ" out of "Christmas." But the Christian movement, with its fast-paced, road-raged, halls-bedecked demeanor during these months, provides plenty of fodder to the atheistic assault against our favored institution.
And even on Christmas Eve this month, we may very well hear the same intonations from the preacher:
"(long sigh) . . . well . . . we made it!"
Made what? Has this been a sea voyage to the New World? Achieving the chance to run the Marathon in the Olympics? The end of an arduous multi-year campaign for the Presidency?
Advent is all about waiting. And if we have made it through a period of rest and prayer, of contemplation and reflection, then indeed we have earned the right to heave a sigh of relief and proclaim "We made it!"
The Body of Christ should be doing anything BUT acting on edge this month.
Our peaceful demeanor, our refusal to take the bait and complain about traffic, crowds, and the weather, will provide volumes of positive testimony to the rightness of trusting in the Lord.
Glenn Frey once said "Take it easy." The Southern California rockers of the 1970s had this right. In the end, all that other stuff is not so important.
Patience. Please.
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