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“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior"  Luke 1:46-47

Have you ever experienced waiting for something?

 Another way to describe it might be “longing.” I am not talking about something with a clear timeline, like a cheque that will arrive at the beginning of the month. Nor do I mean something completely vague and uncertain, like a passing wish that a troubling situation would somehow change.

To describe something more accurately, we often need context. The same word, like “love,” can lead us in very different directions depending on what or whom that love is directed toward. When thinking of waiting or longing, the context also sets the tone of our actions.

For the Israelites, God’s promise had been fulfilled in one sense when they ended their exile and entered the promised land, yet that fulfillment was not complete, as they suffered for centuries under the domination of foreign empires. Different groups tried to explain why God seemed silent or suggested what should be done to bring God’s promises into reality.

The Pharisees emphasized strict observance of the law, while the

Sadducees focused on temple worship, and zealots chose active resistance.

All these responses tended to focus on human effort, as though it were up to them to initiate God’s action. In the midst of these loud and competing voices about what should be done and how, there were also those who remained in silence, listening for God.

Instead of only crying out, “Why has God abandoned us?”—and there is nothing wrong with this kind of lament, as the Psalms show—these people sought God’s presence in their own hearts. Sometimes we think God is not with us, or is testing us, or has left us for reasons we do not understand. Yet as we hold on to what God promised through the prophets, and most clearly through Jesus Christ, we come to see that God is always with us, because we are God’s beloved.

As we continue to trust God’s word, our focus can shift from “Where is

God?” to “What is God saying?” and “What keeps me from recognizing

God’s presence?” Then, like Mary, who conceived the Living Word by the Holy Spirit, in our humility and trust, our awareness and anticipation, we too can hear God speaking to us. More than that, we can embody God’s word in our hearts and lives.

That is why we can celebrate joy even in the midst of waiting and longing: God is already here with us, waiting for us to see, to listen, and to reach out.

May God’s grace always guide us to where we can find the presence of God, who is already at work in our waiting, already dwelling in our midst, and already leading us into the joy of Christ’s coming.

Fr. James