What is Advent Waiting?

How much time do you spend waiting each day? Have you ever kept a record of waiting? Probably not! Waiting is not easy for humans—we want to get things done and move on right now. 

If you’re like most people, you hate to wait. Think of standing in line at the airport. You’re getting ready to go through security, where it’s necessary to remove your shoes, belt, take out your electronic devices, wondering if you’ll get through without an issue! The entire process seems to take forever, though it usually takes minutes—it still feels like you’re wasting time! 

Waiting can seem like a form of torture. Yet, waiting on God is a crucial part of the Christian experience. This includes the waiting time we enter during the season of Advent. 

If you’re not sure what Advent’s all about, check out this post from last year. It explains what this season is, how it’s practiced, and more. Today’s post deals with waiting during this season. What is Advent waiting, and what’s it all about? 

Why Does God Make Us Wait? 

God has made waiting a “thing” since ancient times. You can find many instances of waiting in the Bible, including when Abram and Sarai (Abraham and Sarah) waited for a son (Genesis 11-25). Moses had to wait for the right moment to lead the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 2-3). Ruth left her own country to follow her mother-in-law to a place, where she had to wait for a husband (the Book of Ruth). David waited to become king (I Samuel). These are only a few of the many examples of waiting in the Bible. 

In these examples, we see a pattern: God uses the time of waiting to prepare each person for the work He’s called them to do. Waiting is often a time of training, growth, and deepening faith. It’s not a passive, idle period. Instead, this is an active time, when God tests, teaches, and humbles His people, equipping them for what lies ahead. 

Christians experience seasons of waiting all through their lives. These periods are opportunities to build trust and faith in God and His promises, knowing that His timing is always perfect.  

Advent Waiting is an Active Time

During Advent, we wait for the birth of the Messiah, our Lord, Jesus Christ, and for the fulfillment of God’s promises to us. Advent is celebrated for the four Sundays leading up to Christmas. It’s a time of hopeful longing and waiting with expectation. We wait with eager anticipation for God’s promise to be fulfilled in the birth of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

During the Advent season, we wait with longing expectation for celebrating God’s love for us. He sent His Son into the world to save us from our sins and to fix our broken relationship with Him. This time of waiting isn’t an empty time. Instead, it’s a time of watchful expectation—a time of hope that God’s promise is fulfilled.  

But what exactly does it mean to wait during Advent? 

Advent is a season of watchful expectation. It’s not a passive waiting, but an active time of reflecting on the significance of God’s love for us manifested in the birth of His Son. This waiting isn’t empty or meaningless—it’s filled with purpose.  We wait with hope, looking forward to Jesus bringing His light to a dark world. 

Advent Practices That Ease Waiting & Prepare Us 

As I mentioned earlier, we humans like to do something—keep moving forward—we hate waiting with nothing to do! But in His wisdom, God has provided ways for us to use waiting times for growth, reflection, and spiritual preparation.  

Here are a few practices that can help us make the most of this season of waiting and expectation: 

Prayer: Advent is the perfect time to spend focused time in prayer. Reflect and meditate on the promises of Christ and the significance of His birth. You can use Advent prayers, or create your own, and remember that prayer is a two-way conversation—listen to God as well as speak to Him.  

Advent journal: an Advent journal can be a powerful tool for deepening your spiritual journey. It encourages you to slow down and reflect on the true meaning of Advent. Journaling helps you internalize the significance of this season, offering space for personal insights and growth. 

Read scriptures: Advent is also a wonderful time to read and reflect on the prophecies of Isaiah about the coming of Christ. Reading and studying the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth and meditating on their meaning is also helpful. 

Advent wreath: using an Advent wreath during this time is also meaningful. It’s an outward focus on what’s happening as we prepare during the season of Advent. The wreath and candles visually and spiritually mark the days leading up to Christmas. Light a candle on each Sunday in Advent and read specific scriptures in preparation of Christmas. 

Attend church: many churches have special Advent services that focus on preparing our hearts for the birth of Christ. Being with other believers during this time can encourage and strengthen your own faith journey. 

Deepen Your Advent Journey with From Darkness into Light Journal

One of the most powerful tools you can use to reflect and prepare your heart is a dedicated Advent journal. This year, consider using the From Darkness into Light Advent Journal to guide your daily reflections and spiritual growth during this special time. 

The journal is designed to help you slow down and focus on the true meaning of the season. With its 139 pages, it offers a day-by-day journey from the first Sunday in Advent through to December 31st. You’ll find Scripture readings, reflection questions, prayer request pages, and more. Each day’s entry provides: 

Scripture Readings: throughtfully chosen passages to center your heart on the significance of Christ’s coming bringing light into a dark world. 

Reflection Questions: prompts to help you engage deeply with the Scripture and its application to your life. 

Prayer requests: a space to write down your personal prayers and reflections, bringing you closer to God in conversation. 

Extra note pages: lined and dot-grid pages where you can jot down insights, creative thoughts, or whatever is on your heart. 

The journal also includes a reflection section at the end of the month, offering five thoughtful questions to help you reflect on your Advent journey. You can buy your copy of From Darkness into Light at my Gumroad shop! 

Gumroad is an online sales platform that allows creatives to sell copies of their digital products. It’s safe to use this platform, and it makes it easy for you to receive your copy of the journal! After you pay, you’ll receive a link to download your printable/digital Advent journal! 

I also offer other materials, such as Bible studies and more on Gumroad! 

Concluding Thoughts

Advent waiting is not passive. It’s an active, intentional waiting that fosters spiritual growth and draws us nearer to the heart of God. 

The goal of Advent is to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of Christ. While waiting can often be uncomfortable, the practices of prayer, journaling, scripture reading, and worship help us make the most of this season. 

By actively engaging in these practices, we can grow closer to God and more deeply understand the true meaning of Christmas—the light of Christ entering the world. 

God bless,

PS If you'd like to find apps for prayer, Bible study, etc., head over to our Resources page!  

The Significance of Easter--What We Celebrate

 

This Sunday, Christians around the world will celebrate Easter Sunday (or Easter Monday in some countries). This holiday is one of the most important holy days in the Christian calendar. But why do we celebrate Easter? What is the significance of this holiday that comes in the spring? 

The Core of Easter for Christians

At its very core, the Easter holiday celebrates Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Some refer to Easter Sunday as Resurrection Sunday. His resurrection was the culmination of Jesus’ life and ministry. The crucifixion came at the end of a time of torture, abuse, ridicule, and abandonment. 

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John record all that Jesus went through before his death and resurrection. It all began with his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. This started Passion Week, which ends with Christ’s resurrection. 

During Passion Week, Jesus experienced the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, cleaned out the temple, and taught and told parables. It was also during this week that Judas, one of Christ’s disciples, agreed to betray Jesus. Then Jesus and the disciples celebrated the Last Supper, and Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. 

After the Last Supper, Christ and his disciples went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Here, Jesus asked God to spare him all that would befall him in the next hours. He was experiencing the mental, physical, and spiritual anguish of what was soon to come. While they were in the garden, Judas and armed men came to arrest Jesus. 

From his arrest until the resurrection, Christ experienced abuse, torture, unending questioning, and abandonment, as mentioned above. Jesus went through all of this in order to fulfill his Father’s will. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

John 3:16 NKJV

Jesus followed His Father’s will and desire to save each one of us from our sins. He died on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven and we could be in a right relationship with God. This is the core message of Easter or Resurrection Sunday. 

The Suffering Servant

When we celebrate Easter/Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. We thank God for sending Jesus, His Son, to save us and for his willing sacrifice. Christ came to fulfill all the prophecies about him from Genesis on through the prophets. 

One of the most moving prophecies about Jesus is found in Isaiah 52:13-53:12. There, you can read Isaiah’s description of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. Within these verses, Isaiah foretold the Suffering Servant, Jesus, and all that he would endure. 

These verses show us that Jesus suffered the penalty we should have suffered—death for our sins. He took all the punishment each of us deserves for our sins. Christ also interceded on our behalf. In other words, Jesus was our atonement—our reconciliation with God. 

By celebrating Easter, we are reminded of our salvation through our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Messiah. 

Jesus endured immense physical, mental, and spiritual suffering on our behalf. I once had a pastor who described in detail what physically happened during the crucifixion. Not only that, but he also described the experience of Jesus being whipped with the Roman flagellum. 

This was a whip with several short leather strips. Each of the strips had iron balls on the tips. When the flagellum was used on Jesus, it literally tore his flesh apart and to the bone. There was much more to his suffering, but Jesus willingly went through it all to save us all from our sins.

While we remember Christ’s suffering, we also remember that Easter or Resurrection Sunday is also about Jesus’ resurrection. 

What is the Resurrection? 

The resurrection is a miracle that made many believe Jesus is the Son of God. During his ministry, Jesus performed several miracles where he brought several people back to life. However, no one was resurrected before Christ. 

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

I Corinthians 15:20 NKJV

The resurrection miracle is that after three days in the tomb, God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus was alive again and had a real body that showed his crucifixion scars. Jesus was the same person as before; however, his body was transformed into one that lasts forever. 

It’s hard for us to understand this, but the scriptures relate authentic witness accounts of people who saw Christ after his resurrection. For anyone who doubts Jesus’ resurrection, you can read Paul’s words in I Corinthians 15:12-58. 

The first Christians were so convinced that Jesus had died and risen again that they were not afraid to die. Many were persecuted and killed with their hope placed in the resurrection. Jesus promises that those who believe in him will have everlasting life. Many of the disciples and early Christians were not afraid to die due to this promise and the fact of Jesus’ resurrection. 

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 

John 10:27-28

As Paul says in Corinthians 15:12-19, “…if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.” 

If these disciples and early Christians believed a lie, then there is no hope for them or resurrection. They died in their sins and will be apart from God for eternity. There’s no hope for us, either, if Jesus did not rise from the dead. But that is not the case. 

Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. There, he intercedes on our behalf, and we have hope of eternal life in the presence of Christ and our Father, but only if we believe in Christ. 

Easter or Resurrection Sunday is all about Jesus’ willing sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension. He is the firstfruits of everyone who believes in Him and His Father. 

Easter Celebrations

Easter falls during the spring when the world is coming back to life again after the “dead time” of winter. Baby animals are born, plants come back to life, and more. 

Many of us celebrate Easter with Easter eggs, bunnies, and candy. Do these have a place in our celebrations of the resurrection? Yes, they do, as long as they don’t overtake the true meaning of Easter. 

We celebrate Easter or Resurrection Sunday to commemorate the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, our Savior and Redeemer. He has promised that if we believe in him, we will have eternal life with him. We are forgiven for our sins during our earthly lives due to Christ’s sacrifice. We can dare to approach God through Christ, but only if we believe and have faith in him. 

If you’ve not read about Christ’s Passion Week, crucifixion, or resurrection, why not do so today? Then you’ll be ready to celebrate Easter wholeheartedly and understand the meaning of this most significant Christian holiday. 

I’d like to wish you and yours a blessed and happy Easter! 

God bless,

PS If you'd like to find apps for prayer, Bible study, etc., head over to our Resources page!