Advent, Day 4: "Shhh...listen, listen very carefully"

For Kids:

Sometimes it’s hard to wait. 

My twin grandchildren and another grandson, all have birthdays coming up in December, but they have to wait for their birthday surprises. 

Christmas means there are presents to buy and we can do that anytime, but we have to wait for the day when we can open our presents.

Waiting is hard…I remember once when we took our kids on a long trip.  We had to drive hours and hours to get to the place we were going to go to.  During the trip I heard the question over and over again from the kids:  “When are we going to get there?”  “How much longer is it going to take?”  

Waiting is hard when it seems like it’s taking too long.

After God made his promise to send someone to take care of the problem of sin, a long time passed.  In fact, years and years of time passed.  

Many of God’s people asked the question:  “How long Lord?”  “How much longer before the one who will straighten everything out comes?”

One day, God spoke to a man who listened very carefully to God.  His name was Samuel and he was a man who learned to listen to God.  

He read God’s word, prayed and listened to what God was saying.  God spoke to Samuel and told him “Go to Bethlehem and I’ll show you who will be the new King.”

The problem was that the country already had a King. But Samuel knew that when God said something, he would choose always to believe God rather than anything else.  So he went. 

He went to Bethlehem, and he went to a family where there were seven sons.  

Now, Samuel didn’t know which one of the sons was the next King, but he knew God would show him.  SO, he asked for the sons to come and stand before him.

The first one was the oldest, the tallest, the strongest.  Samuel thought, “This must be the new King.”  But God spoke to Samuel and said “No, this isn't him.”  

God said to Samuel very clearly:  “You’re looking at the outside but I’m looking at what he’s like on the inside – where his heart is at.”

One by one from oldest to youngest the sons came before Samuel.  

Each time God spoke to Samuel and said “No, that’s not the one”.  

After six sons had stood before him, Samuel was confused.  

He said to the father, “Is there any more sons?” (He was sure God had told him to go to Bethlehem, to this family and show him who the next King was).

The father said to Samuel,  “There’s one more son, but he’s very young, just a child.”

Samuel told them to get him.  He was out in the field watching over the sheep, but when the young boy came before Samuel, God spoke to Samuel and said, “That’s him…that’s the next King”.  

His name was David.

David was the next King, but David had to wait a long time before he became King.  

He was told he was going to be King, but God had to train him.  

David had to go to school, so to speak, and learn God's lessons of what it meant to be a godly King. 

Waiting is hard…but when we wait patiently, believing and hoping for the day to come, it can be very good.

When David became King, God came to David and spoke to him.  

David listened very carefully to God and God told him that He had not forgotten his promise.  

Now, listen to what God told him:

2 Samuel 7:12-13
¹² … I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong.
¹³ … I will secure his royal throne forever.

Just think, from a young boy God made a promise that he was going to change the world. 

Many, many more years later the promise would come true. 

God spoke to a young couple – Joseph and Mary – and they went to Bethlehem because Mary was ready to have a baby who was going to be born, and in Bethlehem the baby was born.  

The parents - Mary and Joseph - named this little child “Jesus”.

Christmas reminds us that God always fulfills his promises, no matter how long we have to wait. 

And we should remember that God loves to use children also – even you.

During this time of waiting for Christmas, let’s remember that God wants to use us to show others that God loves the world.

What can we do today to show someone that God loves them?

What can we do to listen to what God has to say to us?

Here’s a page to color that shows David standing before Samuel when God tells Samuel “this is the next King”.

For the Parents and Other Not Kids:

The problem with waiting is real. 

We all wait…but waiting is not always easy, in fact it’s sometimes it’s painful.

As I write this a young couple sit in a hospital room after their young sons surgery…waiting. 

They had to wait for the doctors to make the diagnosis.

Then they had to wait for the medical opinions about what to do next.

Then they waited for the surgery.

Then they waited as the surgery took place.

Now they wait to see what will happen. 

Let’s be honest, sometimes waiting is full of anxiety, fears, apprehensions, doubts. 

Waiting is hard, but waiting in Faith can liberate us from our fears and doubts.

Psalm 5:1-3 (NIV)
¹ Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing.
² Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
³ In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

Psalm 130:5-6 (NIV)
⁵ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
⁶ My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Matthew 11:25 (NIV) 
11:25 At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.

A few years ago I made a three hour journey, driving to Chicago’s O’Hare airport to pick up my daughter, son-in-law, and twin one year old grandchildren that were going to spend their first Christmas with us (actually it was their second one, but at the first one they were only 7 days old). 

The four of them flew from England to arrive for a three week Christmas stay. It was a long trip filled with anticipation and joyful expectation.

While at the airport I had one of those Advent moments I could never forget. Waiting at the terminal where passengers come through the doors after clearing customs is part of the journey.  

Waiting is often anxious, and filled with anticipation.  And, it involves all sorts of people. Most are very quiet until their loved one, or friend, or colleague comes through the door. If it's a loved one or friend, there's often a hug, sometimes a kiss, a handshake, or even just a pat on the back. There is also the impersonal greeting - the person standing to the side with a sign with a name, or a company name, etc... I can't say it's a bad thing, but it doesn't compare with the warm welcome of loved ones waiting.

That day while I stood waiting for my family to arrive, a young Mom came near me, and with her came two little children in tow. The littlest was a girl who looked like she was about 2 years old. She stood, whispered to her Mom, and clung to her leg for safety.

The little boy was the antithesis of his sister. About 5, he arrived at the security rope line and within seconds I could hear him say, "Dad, we're waiting Dad.”  

The little boy, Mom, sister, like all of us, stared plaintively towards the glass doors for our loved ones to make their appearance.  But the little boy wasn’t going to stand silently and wait.  

He was quiet for a few seconds at a time and then he would say out loud: "Dad, Where Are You Dad? We’re waiting Dad."

It was the only thing on his little mind and heart - and so on and on it went. 

Ten minutes, twenty minutes passed...he did not give up. 

No one seemed to mind. I smiled and then it seemed if God said to me within:  “This is what I mean by waiting.”  

This kind of waiting is expectant, confident, hopeful.

I had an Advent moment, and saw in the heart of that little boy, the child that Jesus said was indicative of those who "got it". 

The little boy is undeterred in his expectancy. 

His love and adoration for his Dad is all he cared about.  

He does not care who is listening; and he does not mind repeatedly asking for His Dad to show up.  “Dad, Where are you Dad?”

Jesus taught us to pray:

“Our Father, Who is in Heaven, Holy is Your Name, May your Kingdom come…”

Advent means arrival, waiting in expectancy, craving Immanuel - God with us. 

The little boy’s Dad walked through the door, and the boy, oblivious to security rules and concerns, went under the ropes and ran to his arms, yelling “Daaaaaad”; and his Father pick him up, swung him around in a circle and they hugged, and kissed. 

And all I kept hearing was "Dad, You're Here"...and it made me smile and with tears in my eyes, I could pray, “Yes Lord, I get it”.

Peace