“It will be just a little wait.” Are you kidding me? It seems like we are always waiting for something or someone, right?

The average person spends an hour a day waiting in line, which means we spend between two to three years of our life in waiting: waiting on a project to be completed, waiting for the light to turn green, waiting to see the doctor, waiting to grow up, waiting for the right relationship, waiting in a fast food line, waiting in the check out line, the return line…. waiting!

I have waited on my wife, the birth of my kids (which was only the beginning)!I’ve waited alone, I’ve waited with friends, I’ve waited with strangers. I’ve waited anxiously! I’ve waited expectantly. Sometimes I’ve been disappointed, at other times I’ve been happy I waited. Sometimes I’m sorry I waited at other times it was “worth the wait.”

I looked into the face of my four year old grandson last night as I told him he had to wait till Christmas. That bright little smile disappeared and was replaced by a sad, sad face. “Pops you said that last year and the year before, (I’m not sure how he remembers the year before, but) that’s a long time to wait.” I didn’t say it, but I thought to myself, your waiting has only just begun, buddy.

Christmas, Advent, yep, here we are again ‘waiting.’ Some are waiting in great expectation, others are waiting anxiously, and some are waiting in despair, in a “dark night of the soul.” For some the wait is more like a lonely longing for things long past.

In this darkness I remember what light is like. I remember that the silence was broken by the sound of angels singing. Look up, there is still a star, still a promise, still hope!

I must make room in this darkness, not inside an inn or a stable, but in my heart. I must clear out the doubt and the fear, the anxiety.

Move over despair! Make Room! Prepare him room!

Don’t be passive, get ready for the appearing of the Lord.