The last few years have led me to reflect a fair bit on waiting. We were waiting to see what was next, waiting to move, waiting for the end of challenging seasons, waiting for a new church to flourish. It seems that the life of faith is often the life of waiting. In all of this, David’s words have become something of a refrain for me—at once an encouragement and a challenge: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Ps 27:14).

What’s the most dehydrated you’ve ever been? Few feelings match the misery of needing water and not having it. Of course, not all water will quench our thirst. Drinking from the ocean or a contaminated stream will the do the exact opposite of reviving you. When Jesus declares that he is the living water, he’s telling us that he is the one who can quench our deepest thirst; he is the one who can truly satisfy.

“Home Alone” tapped into great fears as a kid. Those fears that you’d be forgotten and left alone. While it’s a comedy, the movie plays on some of our greatest fears: does anyone notice me? Will anyone remember me? Am I all alone in this? Eight-year old Kevin outwits Harry and Marv and reunites with his family, but for many, the sense of loneliness is harder to shake than the Wet Bandits. We find that merely being with others can’t overcome these feelings, for often the deepest sense of isolation comes when we are surrounded by others. The hope of Christmas is that we are not alone. We are not forgotten. God himself became like us in order to be with us.

As a kid, December brought with it a lot of waiting—waiting to decorate, waiting for school to be out, waiting for my sisters’ Christmas concert to be over. And of course, I was waiting for Christmas morning and unwrapping presents.

Such waiting has made it easier to embrace a more concerted observance of Advent, for Advent is a time that teaches us to wait. In this season, we look back and remember God’s people expectantly longing for the first coming of Christ, and we look forward, waiting in hope for his second.

Advent’s lessons in waiting seem increasingly important to me, for I grow more and more convinced that the life of faith is a life of waiting. We’re waiting on God. We’re waiting for him to fulfill his promises and to unite all things in Christ.

Often, the church is seen, at best, as a by-product of the missionary endeavor and, at worst, a hindrance to it. Yet, in John 17, Jesus’s prayer challenges us to consider the importance of community for our continuing in his mission.

Enthusiasm is easy, but it tends to leave us as easily as it comes. Endurance in life is the real challenge. Last endurance in the life of faith can only come through the encouragement of the gospel.