Advent is a season of promise and fulfillment. We abide in expectant hope, confident that God is faithful. He never breaks his promises. We can trust him with total vulnerability and receptivity.<\/p>\n
I must confess that trusting God\u2019s promises \u2013 really trusting them \u2013 has been a lifelong challenge for me. I often surrender myself in faith and hope and love. But I have a pattern of \u201ccrossing my fingers\u201d and holding back a little something for myself. There can be a clutching in my heart, a nagging doubt, a lingering fear that God might not really come through for me. I don\u2019t always verbalize that doubt or have awareness of it. But part of my heart still struggles. There is that temptation to cling to an escape clause, a golden parachute, or a “Plan B” \u2013 just in case. I am guessing the same is true for many of you.<\/p>\n
Scripture offers us lively examples of faith in God\u2019s promises: Abraham, Joseph, and Mary.<\/p>\n
Abraham is our father in faith. God commands him to leave behind his country and go to a land yet to be named. God promises make of him a great nation. Abraham trusts and abides. God promises to give him descendants as numerous as the stars of the sky. According to those chapters of Genesis, Abraham is 75 at the time of God\u2019s promise, and waits until the age of 100 for the fulfillment! Yet Abraham trusts and abides. Some years later, God commands Abraham to sacrifice his own beloved son Isaac. Abraham continues to trust and abide, proclaiming to Isaac, \u201cGod himself will provide a lamb\u201d (Genesis 22:8). God celebrates Abraham\u2019s faith, and does indeed provide the lamb. He sends his own beloved Son Jesus, places the wood of the cross on his shoulders, and invites him up the mountain of Calvary to offer and be offered as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.<\/p>\n
That promise of saving us from our sins is also given to Joseph in Matthew 1. God sends his angel in a dream, assuring Joseph that his wife is pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is to name the child Jesus (\u201cSavior\u201d) because he will save his people from their sins. Joseph trusts and abides.<\/p>\n
Joseph continues trusting and abiding in Bethlehem, amidst circumstances that would lead most men to panic or rage. This great savior-child is born amidst animals and laid to rest in their feeding trough. Joseph trusts and abides following another dream, in which God sends his angel to command him to rise, take the mother and child, and go into Egypt until commanded otherwise. Joseph rises, takes the mother and child, and goes. He knows not how long they will be there, where they will stay, or how they will be provided for. He trusts that God is faithful. Scripture never records any spoken word on his part. But every single time God issues a command to him, he promptly obeys, abiding in faith and hope.<\/p>\n
Luke offers the example of the Virgin Mary. His Gospel begins with two parallel stories, as the births of John and Jesus are announced. Zechariah and Mary are contrasting figures. Both are righteous and pleasing in God\u2019s eyes. Both are promised a very special son under quite impossible circumstances. Both ask questions about God’s promises.<\/p>\n
But there is a great difference in their questioning. Zechariah asks, \u201cHow can I know<\/u> this?\u201d He does not fully trust; part of him desires to comprehend and be in control. Mary, meanwhile, trusts and abides. Elizabeth praises her for believing that God would fulfill his promises (Luke 1:45). Mary\u2019s question is \u201cHow will<\/u> this be?\u201d In Greek the grammar is more obvious. If there were doubt about the outcome, Luke would employ the subjunctive or optative (\u201cHow could<\/u> this be?\u201d). But he uses the indicative mood. She believes that the promises will<\/u> be fulfilled, and desires to understand more deeply. In her lively example, we see that trusting and abiding doesn\u2019t mean that we have to be a helpless victim or a passive bystander. There is a faith-filled way of questioning God. Mary does not shrink back in fearful submission, nor does she willfully demand a total explanation. She freely and actively gives her \u201cyes\u201d and grows in her expectant hope as the mystery gradually unfolds. She does not succumb to any urge to panic or rebel.<\/p>\n
Personally, I am quite skilled at what some of my friends call \u201cfuture tripping.\u201d My mind and heart fantasize about the \u201cwhat if\u201d scenarios, and I find myself consumed with anxiety or sadness as I grapple to stay in control. God keeps inviting me to be a little child, trusting and receptive. He will shepherd me. He will protect me. He will lead me. He will nourish me. He will heal me. He will wipe away every tear. He will provide for all my needs. He will fulfill each and every one of my deepest desires. He is the one who put them there in the first place.<\/p>\n
Advent is a time of promise and fulfillment, a time to trust and abide. The examples of Abraham, Joseph, and Mary are truly inspiring. We can trust the living God, who never lies and never breaks his promises. Paul\u2019s prayer for his people can be a prayer for each of us this Advent:<\/p>\n
\u201cNow may\u00a0the God of peace himself\u00a0sanctify you completely, and may your\u00a0whole\u00a0spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at\u00a0the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. H<\/span>e who calls you is faithful;\u00a0he will surely do it.<\/span>\u201d (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Advent is a season of promise and fulfillment. We abide in expectant hope, confident that God is faithful. He never breaks his promises. We can trust him with total vulnerability and receptivity. I must confess that trusting God\u2019s promises \u2013 really trusting them \u2013 has been a lifelong challenge for me. I often surrender myself … <\/p>\n