Joy in the Waiting?

Can I find joy in the waiting?  I believe so.  God is asking me to as He prepares the details.  He is a sovereign God and while I wait, I know He is preparing my heart, my husband's heart, my children's heart, and I pray He is preparing Lily's heart as well.

As Christmas draws near I thought about being a child and how the wait was unbearable sometimes.  Couldn't Christmas just get here?  Each day was one day closer as we counted down the days til Christmas.    I see my kids get excited about Christmas, the preparations, the get-togethers, shopping, wrapping, desserts, etc.  They get so excited and can't wait!  Could that be one reason why Christmas morning is so special?  The wait?

God works in the waiting.  I think of God's people in the Old Testament and how it all points to the coming of the Messiah, His death on the cross, and His resurrection.  I believe God was working in those 400 years between the Old Testament and the New Testament, preparing hearts for the birth of Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Can you imagine what it would have been like to have been there?  To hear that the long awaited Messiah was coming!  His people lived by faith, generation after generation.  They had heard the stories of the Patriarchs;  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  They had heard about Joseph and Moses and many other heroes of the faith.  They had lived through the festivals each year.  They had heard from the prophets.  Now...the time had come!  Can you imagine the anticipation?  God was preparing their hearts and for those who believed, the King of Kings who had come to save the world was among them.  Baby Jesus was born!! God is working and we must find joy in the waiting.

So, as I continue to wait, my heart is bursting with a deeper love for my Father in Heaven and I am  humbled by the opportunity we have been given to welcome a little child into our family.  God truly does set the lonely in families (Psalm 68:6).  This is not of me...this is the work of my Father.  To have this kind of love for a child I have never met,  a child that has done nothing to draw me to her, a child I miss even though she has never been here before...this kind of love could only be from the Father.  And I wait with anticipation for the day that I meet my daughter, Lily.  A day I think about every day.  How sweet it will be.  I just can't wait to wrap my arms around her and love her.  It is tiny glimpse into our final day on earth.  Jesus is preparing a place for all those who are found in Christ (John 14:3).  He loves us with a love we can't even comprehend.  God is preparing my heart until the day I meet Him face to face and I can honestly say...although it is hard...I am finding joy in the waiting.