As we read through the Christmas story in Luke, we find two people who have been waiting most of their lives for something they deeply desired. Elizabeth desperately wanted to have a child. It was painful and shameful at that time to be childless, and she was getting too old for motherhood to be a possibility. Simeon in his old age was still holding out hope to get a glimpse of the Messiah, just as the Spirit had promised. But while Elizabeth and Simeon waited and wanted, they didn’t give up on God. Instead, they both lived devout and righteous lives.
In my first winter in Chicago, Jay left to attend a two-week intensive seminary course. While he was away, this Southern girl shoveled snow in the driveway. Under my breath with some tears and anger, I said, “Don’t people know that you don’t have to live like this?” The first year of living in the snow, far away from my family, friends, and home, was depressing. However, after that year, I dusted myself off and chose to invest completely in the place where God had planted us. Because of that intention, my faith deepened, and I developed friendships in our neighborhood that have eternal significance for me. Nevertheless, my heart was still waiting and wanting to come back home.
After more than six years in Chicago, we got the surprise of a lifetime when Jay was called to be a pastor at Peachtree. It has been such a gift to our family.
Sometimes the years of longing make the answer to the desire even more astonishing. Simeon, after his endless waiting, was one of the first to bear witness to Jesus. He was finally able to see the Messiah when Mary and Joseph brought Him to the Temple to be dedicated to God. The surprise for Elizabeth was not only that she was able to have a child, but that this son would become John the Baptist, the one to bear witness to Jesus for his entire life.