This Christmas 2008 week, we will be posting about waiting for God. Certainly no other holiday is so full of unrealistic expectations than Christmas. It is a time of giving but why do we feel we aren’t giving enough. Why do we want to be able to satisfy everyone’s desires? Why do we try to drag God into this cycle of frustration and desire and blame Him for not satisfying our senseless cravings? Is it because this season allows us to appear to be more like—God?

Waiting for God as defined by several bloggers will be this week’s theme here at Changemaker. God is our partner in reinventing ourselves because He gives us a clean slate everyday to start over and recreate our life.

(1)  From allaboutprayer.org, the author reminds us during this times of waiting for God’s answers:

“As you are waiting for God, He strengthens you. “But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).”

“What does it mean to be blessed by God while we wait on Him? As we wait on God and His timing, He can accomplish so much in our hearts. Often we find new purpose in life, receive answers to prayer, see God work, increase our faith, and most often we see God’s perfect plan fulfilled in our situation. Remember, waiting is not wasted time!”

(2)  foundationsforfreedom.net reminds us that these waiting periods can include these three steps: trust–turning to God rather than from Him; rejection–turning away from other empty resources; and pray–pray only for God’s will for our life and the power to carry His will out (12 steps of recovery).

(3)  Jon in stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com offers three stories to complete his understanding of waiting for God: (a) the silent bush–Moses explored the burning bush (Exodus 3); (b) the great goat parade–Genesis 43–“Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.”; and (c) “After Elijah goes up to heaven and Elisha takes up his mantle he’s forced with a decision. He can sit and pray and wait or he can strike out on his own campaign for God. Here’s what happens in 2 Kings 2: He (Elisha) picked up the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the cloak that had fallen from him and struck the water with it. “Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. I love that. He didn’t test the waters with his toe, he parted them. He basically said, “God if you’re down, let’s do this thing.” And then he did it.”b