Foreword

I feel so completely inadequate for this task. I prayed, fasted, studied, planned, and outlined; but when I went to actually write, I just felt hindered. After more time in prayer, I realized my own heart needed to work a few things out with the Lord. Longing can be a place of waiting in peaceful assurance of God’s promises, or it can be the kind of spiritual tantrum I was throwing in my heart. Like the Psalmist, I desire to be honest about that angst, but to also remind us to “let us find our rest in Thee.”

The season of Advent has had some different meanings throughout church history. The Latin Adventus means “coming” or “arrival,” and has always implied the anticipation of that arrival. Historically, the difference lies in the focus of our anticipation. Early on, it was a season of intense preparation for candidates expecting their baptism into the Faith on Epiphany in early January (traditionally the end of the Christmas season). Then it broadened into a season in which all Christians focused on awaiting Christ’s future coming in glory. Then it narrowed in a bit to focus more on Christ’s first coming as a baby. Today, the Protestant American is more detached from the ritual and rhythm of the liturgical calendar than our forebears, but that does not mean we shouldn’t join our hearts in the celebration of Christ’s first coming AND eager expectation of His second coming. To that end, you hold this devotional in your hand.

So of all the ways we could prepare our hearts, I felt led to address this sense of longing. In the midst of all creation groaning and so many people suffering, I long for the Lord. I long for the suffering to stop.

Continuing conflicts in Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, the Middle East, and elsewhere

Christian martyrdom in the Congo, Burma, Nigeria, and elsewhere

Displacement, hunger, and avoidable disease in far too many countries

Typhoons, wildfires, hurricanes, mudslides, and floods

Criminal violence so commonplace that it’s barely news

Unprecedented rates of anxiety, depression, fear, addiction, and mental health issues

And a spirit of anger so pervasive it divides countries, communities, churches, and families

All this on top of the personal battles we all face. Unsaved loved ones, old traumas, personal sins, broken bodies, relational conflicts, financial strains…can all feel like too much to bear.

How long, O LORD?

Old Testament prophecy has this fairly predictable pattern: disobedience, consequences, return, and promise. Despite the agony of the circumstances, God’s people have always been able to look again to a merciful God and His unfailing promises. I submit that we hurt because of longings within us that have not been fulfilled. I further submit that the satisfaction of those longings is found in Jesus. The implications of those premises will radically change everything in this life and the next. 

Each day can be read on its own, but it all makes more sense when you read them all together, because they are theologically interconnected. Will you pray earnestly that God will speak to us during this Advent season, as our longing hearts seek to find our rest in Him? Holy Spirit, come.