The whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God's sons and daughters.  Romans 8:19

My friend is pregnant.  She is beyond ripe with child – her due date was a week ago, and the little one inside is snug as a bug in a rug and seems to be in no hurry to leave his or her cozy home. My friend’s tiny frame is unbalanced, to say the least.

She is w a i t i n g.  She can do nothing but wait.  (Okay, yes, there are a few things she can try in order to encourage her little one to make his/her entrance, but really, she has no control.)

All of creation is waiting too.  It is as if it is pregnant with longing – desiring to be freed from the bonds chaining it to a broken world.

And we are waiting.  In this Season of Advent, we honor and remember that we are waiting for our Jesus to come again and set all things right.  We remember that He promised to come into our world and that He did come.  He is faithful.  He has promised that He will come again.  And so we wait eagerly with hope for His ultimate return when we too will be freed from the effect of living in a fallen world – our natures still somewhat bound to a groaning earth.

Our hearts are made new in Christ, and one day our bodies will be as well.  We will see our Jesus glorified and His splendor face to face, and while we wait, there are some days where waiting for His return feels as painful as the first pangs of childbirth.

We are expanded in our waiting even as my pregnant friend expands.  We are in the waiting room of the world, eyes alight and alert for the signs of the culmination of all creation.

Or at least we are meant to be.  

We get distracted from this hope that is meant to be the anchor of our souls.  These days I am distracted by my Christmas to-do list.  This season, meant to highlight the celebration of our King who came and is coming again, can swallow me in the day-to-day “requirements.”  The tree in our living room stands naked, and I feel a wee bit accused by its empty branches.  Someone asked me yesterday if I was “all ready for Christmas,” and I almost laughed at the absurd question.  Ready?  Say what?

I love Christmas lights and Christmas music.  I love the world all dressed up with ribbons and bows and wreaths and candy canes.  I even love my now plain home even more when it is all dressed up as well.  But ready?  Ummmm, no.

I look forward to having checked off all my boxes of things to get done.  I want to enjoy them as I go through the list.  But what I want to be most ready for is Christ’s return.  What I want to be expectant of is the sound of a trumpet heralding His second arrival.

He said to be ready.  To be expectant.  He really is going to come again.  It’s true.  We forget.  I forget. But this season, let us remember that He who has promised is faithful.  The Babe in a manger is returning as the King.  He who slipped into the world quietly is coming again with the blast of a trumpet that will rip wide the sky.  The One who entered into a broken world to seek and save all that was lost is coming back to complete His task and make all things new.

Breathless.  Expectant.  May every twinkle light remind us of the twinkle in God’s eye, as He knows what we must remember.  The day is near.