Prepare Your Heart in Hopeful Waiting This Advent

Have you ever waited for something joyous? A marriage? A birth of a child? A graduation? A promotion? Can you remember the feeling of nervousness, anticipation, and excitement? Perhaps there was an impatience, as well, that accompanied this time of waiting.

The same feelings can be associated with Advent. We await the birth of Christ. We await His joyful coming. Advent is a time of hopeful waiting in that we know the joy will come. We await and prepare for it. In the process, we must also be patient and allow God to work in our hearts.

I’ve had a number of joyous turning points in my own life, and prior to each, there was a period of preparation within my heart. For example, before I got promoted to a leadership role, I first had to prepare my heart to lead as a servant leader. I knew the promotion would come, but I had to make my heart ready through prayer and reflection.

Life events like marriage and having a child are similar. Before you enter into each of these life stages, you need to prepare your heart spiritually to love the individual that God is giving you.

Every year during the Advent season, I find myself in hopeful anticipation of something. It’s like God gives me the situation to remind me of what Advent is all about. There is an impatience and nervousness I feel, but also an anticipation and excitement of what I know will be a blessing to come. I think this is much like how Advent is, and a challenge for us to wait patiently, develop our hearts, and enjoy the anticipation and excitement of the joy to come in the process.

Advent is a time of hopeful waiting. Let’s nourish our spirits to prepare for what God is giving us both in the blessings of our lives and the joy of His Son Jesus Christ.