Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent

Today's Readings

The theme of patience is at the core of Advent - a sense of active patience, expectant, alert, and awake. Here are some reflections on patience excerpted from a treatise on the topic of trust:

"Time is not inert. It does not roll through our senses without affecting us. Its passing has remarkable effects on the mind."[1]

These words of Augustine have stuck with me ever since I first read his Confessions during my first year of college. I have only recently begun to understand what he meant. Patience is a necessity for developing commitment to trusting and obeying God throughout the sanctification process. Time is needed for the renewal of the mind through the internalization of truth. Letting God achieve His will through us will always take time. However, Christians must realize that God’s perfect timing is a blessing, not a burden. It may seem confusing at first, but this design allows one to be actively passive. What I mean by this is that one must embrace [Oswald] Chambers’ assertion that ‘He will make you of use unconsciously every minute you live’ if you get rightly related to Jesus Christ. God is the one who acts. Of course, humans can act, but Christians must strive to be focused on being a temple where God can send His Spirit to dwell. They must focus on abiding in the vine by trusting in Jesus wholeheartedly. Then God will be able to act through His people, doing more than they could ever do on their own. To further explain the importance of patience, I have included a series of passages from the Book of Isaiah. The Bible is very clear and consistent about the role of patience. [2]

Isaiah 64:4
From of old no one has heard
    or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
    who acts for those who wait for him.[3]

This is an incredible truth to behold. God will act for those who wait for Him. Waiting can be difficult, but I will wait as long as I can if it means God will act through me [and in me].

Isaiah 40:28-31
 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.
 He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength.
 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.[4]

This is another great passage which communicates a crucial characteristic of God – He is everlasting. God is not in a hurry. He will use all of the time it takes to sanctify His people. If one would embrace eternal life in the present, one might realize why God so emphasizes waiting. God uses time to achieve His will in an eternal context.

Isaiah 49:1-2
 Listen to me, O coastlands,
    and give attention, you peoples from afar.
 The Lord called me from the womb,
    from the body of my mother he named my name.
 He made my mouth like a sharp sword;
    in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
 he made me a polished arrow;
    in his quiver he hid me away.[5]

Now this verse is similar to Jeremiah 1:5, and should not be brought too far out of context.[6] However, I very much appreciate this verse for its metaphoric value. Metaphors are very important to Christianity. Christians are called to be salt, light, and clay, and they are to think about their relationship with God as a sheep to a shepherd and to Jesus as a branch to a vine. This arrow metaphor makes a great deal of sense to me, and I find that it fits in very well with my perspective on God’s will. Here is how I would describe the metaphor: a master archer crafts an arrow and puts a mark on it to indicate it is his (justification and seal of the Spirit). He then polishes the arrow (renewal of the mind) and places it in his quiver. Then comes the time when the archer needs to use the arrow. He takes it from his quiver and puts it on his bow. Then he pulls back, putting great tension on the arrow, and takes his perfect aim (sanctification – enduring discipline through trusting in God’s plan). Then he takes his shot (God achieves His will through our lives). The metaphor is not flawless by any means, but I find it to be a helpful lens into Christian life and God’s will. The tension of the bow on the arrow is necessary for the arrow to have any potential and for the archer to shoot at the target. Similarly, discipline is necessary for God to make His people holy. 

                                                               -- excerpted from T.M. Nagy, Trust: A Perspective on God's Will (Macon, GA: Nurturing Faith, 2018), 57-62]

May this Advent inspire us to wait for God and to trust His plan. As we live patiently, may God cultivate in us the hope, peace, joy, and love which come only from knowing and trusting Him more...because He is hope, peace, joy, and love.

Timothy Nagy
Assistant Director of Mission, Ministry & Interfaith Dialogue, St. Francis College

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[1] Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, trans. by Henry Chadwick (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 60.

[2] See Ps. 25; Ps. 27:14; Ps. 37; Ps. 62:1-7; Ps. 130; Isa. 25:9; Isa. 30:18; Lam. 3:25-26; Mic. 7:7; Rom. 8:23-25; Rom. 9:27-28; Gal. 5:5; Heb. 6:15;  Jas. 5:7-11.

[3] Isaiah 64:4, ESV.

[4] Isaiah 40:28-31, ESV.

[5] Isaiah 49:1-2, ESV.

[6] Jer. 1:5 – ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ As with Isa. 29:1-2, this verse describes God’s selection of a prophet and should not be directly applied to all lives.