Advent: The Wait Is the Work By Shareen Crawford

Advent is a season marked by four themes: Hope. Peace. Joy. Love.

December has a way of slowing us down whether we want it to or not.

The lights, the stillness, the tradition — they all echo the same truth:

we’re waiting for something bigger than ourselves.

This is Advent.

Not just a countdown to Christmas but an invitation into the holy work of waiting.

What Is Advent?

Before we talk about the work of waiting, it’s important to understand the season we’re stepping into.

Advent comes from the Latin word adventus, meaning “arrival” or “coming.”

It’s the four-week season leading up to Christmas when Christians intentionally slow down, prepare their hearts, and wait with expectation for:

1. Jesus’ first coming — His birth in Bethlehem

2. Jesus’ second coming — His promised return

   
   

Advent is a season marked by four themes:

Hope. Peace. Joy. Love.

And while it’s often wrapped in candles, carols, and cozy scenes, at its core Advent is about this:

Learning to wait well.

Learning to find God in the middle.

Learning to trust what we cannot yet see.

Advent Is the Season of the “In-Between”

We live in the tension of the “already, but not yet.”

Jesus has come —yet we’re still waiting for His return.

We have promises —yet we’re waiting for fulfillment.

We have hope —yet we’re still fighting battles.

Advent doesn’t shame us for this tension;

it acknowledges it and sanctifies it.

“But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” Romans 8:25

Waiting isn’t a pause in the story.

It is part of the story.

Why Waiting Matters

In a world that demands instant results and overnight miracles, Advent counters with a whisper: slow down.

Because waiting forms what immediacy destroys.

It strengthens trust.

It loosens our grip on control.

It trains our eyes to see God in the quiet places.

Israel waited 400 years in silence before Jesus came.

And when He finally stepped into human history, He did it quietly —with a cry from a manger, not applause from a stage.

God doesn’t waste waiting.

He works in it.

So How Do You Wait Well?

Here’s what Advent teaches us:

1. Wait With Expectation, Not Resignation

Expectation says, “God is moving even when I can’t see it.”

“My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my hope is from Him.” Psalm 62:5

Waiting well begins with believing God is already doing something beneath the surface.

2. Wait With Surrender, Not Control

Surrender isn’t passivity — it’s trust.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.” Psalm 37:7

Advent teaches us that we don’t have to hold the future together. We just have to hold onto Him.

3. Wait With Community, Not Isolation

Even Mary didn’t walk out her waiting alone.

She had Elizabeth, Joseph, and a community that carried pieces of her story.

Waiting becomes lighter when someone helps hold it.

4. Wait in Proximity to Jesus

This is the heartbeat of Advent.

The closer you stay to Him,

the easier it is to endure the silence, the delays, the uncertainty.

Waiting well isn’t about perfect patience —

it’s about proximity.

The Hope Hidden in the Waiting

Waiting will always stretch us —but it can also shape us.

We wait through heartbreak and hope.

We wait through years of whispered prayers.

We wait through seasons we never asked for.

But we wait with a God who stepped into our waiting once

and promised never to leave us in it alone.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him.”

Lamentations 3:25

That’s the work.

That’s the hope.

That’s Advent.

Final SIP Moment

This month, let your waiting become worship.

Let your silence become stillness.

Let your anticipation become trust.

Advent isn’t about rushing to the finish line —

it’s about recognizing that the God you’re waiting for

is already with you,

already working,

already faithful.

Beloved…

The wait is the work.

And you don’t do it alone.