Why wait? Comfort now

Advent is a season of expectation, the word itself meaning “coming.” Some of us, like our family, are waiting for children to come home from college. Others wait for grandparents to come for Christmas dinner. For young children, these days of waiting can seem like a thousand years. Those who are older are amazed at how quickly time is flying.

As with any long period of waiting, we know that the final days are the hardest to bear. We struggle to understand why we ourselves, never mind the rest of creation, must wait any longer for the salvation and redemption God has promised. Isaiah and John the Baptist, in our Scripture readings for worship this weekend, both proclaim that the time has come. God’s people have suffered long enough, and God is acting to comfort God’s people. "Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God." (Isaiah 40:1) John proclaims the coming of one far greater than him, Jesus, the Messiah, who will bring the Holy Spirit.

What gives you comfort today? How does the announcement of Jesus' coming give you comfort right now?