January 2020 Writing

Waiting. Not a popular word in our 21st century society of instant gratification
Where seemingly all we need is just a click on a screen away
Where marketeers convince us we need things we’d never considered, and need them NOW
Simeon waited
Anna waited
What was the difference?
They knew God
They’d heard God’s promises, quietly, uniquely, individually
They both knew his voice
They trusted him
But how did they wait? What did they do with their time?
Were they passive? Were they bored?
Were they discouraged? Frustrated
NO!
They believed what God had promised, and they gave thanks in advance
They waited prayerfully, but also with a heart of worship.
They were fully convinced, confident that God would be faithful
They knew he would do what he said he would, and the time scale didn’t matter
(After all for God, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is just a day)
How are we waiting for God to bring into being promises He’s made to us?

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There is a saying; you’re a long time dead.
But you were such a long, long time living.
Living In the temple for many years you waited,
For many years patient in prayer,
For many years fasting in faith,
For many years trusting in the Lord,
Watchful until the Holy Child was revealed.
Your faith rewarded you praised the Lord
In certainty you proclaimed
“Look no longer for redemption, for I have seen the Messiah.”

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Oh Lord, my soul has yearned to see your face, to live in your courts with praise.
I have feared for future generations and have asked daily to see the Messiah.
Your people have suffered at the hands of others and I have such love for them as well as the Gentiles.
But today you did a great work.
Today I saw the Messiah and now I can leave this world in peace.

Simeon and Anna

The Holy conception from God
Then a time of waiting
As Mary pondered and prayed
Birth within the stable
So long ago
A Saviour to awaken the world
Shake the unbelievers
Fully recognised by the patient
Simeon and Anna.
Leading the way to full belief
Young and old being united
Can we stay the course?
However long or short
Hard or smooth
With patience for the unfolding grace
Spreading the fragrance of belief
To others far and wide
Calming minds and bringing
Helping the unfathomable Godly peace
To hover over the world.

At Bethlehem the shepherds were watching their flocks
They were lowly, humble men, no ladies I think, and their job was to protect the sheep from wolves or robbers then.
A sheep’s job is to eat grass;
Sheep’s wool grows then when they are shorn, their wool warms people. Maybe those shepherds who came to see baby Jesus had a sheepskin in their packs to give to Mary for a blanket
Mary had been waiting 9 months for her baby.
Right at the beginning, with the Angel, she had agreed to have a most irregular pregnancy. Anyone who is pregnant has worries; will the baby be alright?
Will I be alright?
She waited whilst maybe the people in the village tut-tutted and stared.
So afterwards, when she and Joseph took baby Jesus to the temple.
The words of Simon and Anna must have given her so much encouragement,
Affirmation that God was in charge
Perhaps she hugged them.
I hope so.

Waiting, always in the waiting room,
How long…
Praying, asking, seeking, searching..
Remembering
Sitting in the shadows of your wings… closed away, waiting
How long?
Shall I give up, give in, will it ever happen whilst I live. Is it true?
Will the answer find me here?
Come… My heart waits in silence…
Only to you God do I yield… I live to serve.
To Pray, asking, seeking… looking.
Up from the shadows.
My heart races, light streams in.. a baby is born..
Rivers burst within as I look upon his face..
Truth rises up, a song dances from my lips and for all the long years of hoping, trusting, weariness, doubting and faith
Waiting is over and the answer to life,
My life, your life… every present and future citizen of this world will find themselves in you..
Waiting is fulfilled.
Fulfilment
It is over.
Relief, joy. I dance in the streets..
It’s been fulfilled… Waiting is over.

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