May the mumbling commence!
To hope is to look forward to attaining something one does not have. It is often a perilous journey. In journeying, we often have to wait. Waiting and journeying is the theme of Advent that should saturate our entire lives, regardless of season. And we are not alone in this waiting and journeying. Read from Romans chapter eight:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. (Verses 18-27)
All of creation awaits the glorious freedom that God will bring through His children. That’s you and me brothers and sisters! All of creation will be renewed even as the children of God are renewed. This renewal is obviously not finished. We still wait for it. We wait for full adoption as children of God.
And we are weak and tired and vulnerable with waiting. Often we do not pray as much as we ought. Often when we do pray we do not know how or what to pray. But Jesus did not leave his children as orphans in this world.
God has given us the gift of His Holy Spirit. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. The Spirit intercedes for us with groans that human language cannot express. And God knows the mind of the Spirit and searches our hearts with this connection.
The Spirit will intercede when our desires align with the will of God. This intercession is not the ever-lengthening Christmas list. This intercession does not promise everything we want. This intercession will happen only when our desires align with the will of God.
God loves us, so we will get what we need.
Let us leave our worldly decay behind and take up our new bodies in Christ Jesus. And new bodies will mean a new way of life – one that is obedient to God. A new life that aligns with God’s will.
May it be so in my life and your life this Advent season!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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