In Advent Awe

This week’s devotion is authored by Pastor Tanner Wade

“Who is a God like Him, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old” (Micah 7:18–20).

Waiting with wonder is one of the great gifts of the Advent season. What is under the tree? What will the new year hold? We wait in lines, we wait for answers, we wait for solutions, we wait for cookies, and we wait for the full celebration. We wait for Christmas. In waiting there is wonder, and these questions come not with dread or uncertainty, nor worry, but rather in holy expectation. In Advent we wait in awe of what God would do in sending His Son to this sinful and broken world so that our lives could be given a new undeserved reality. Awe of what God will enact for His purpose and His people.

It is a kind of waiting that the world rarely understands — the waiting of Advent is one that clings to faith that knows what is true, what is to come, and yet does not see its fulfillment. This kind of waiting is not passive or resigned. It is deeply hopeful. It is a posture of trust that says, “God has acted before. God is acting now. And God will act again” (Micah 7). The heart of Advent is learning to wonder again at the God who enters our world in ways we do not expect, at times we do not predict, and in forms we do not always recognize. The sort of waiting that looks at a bow in the clouds and remembers what God has said (Gen. 9:13) and knows He will keep His promises.

Mary had a lot to wonder about after a fateful, foretold night in Nazareth (Luke 1:26–38). But when the question became “How can this be?”, Gabriel’s response should encourage us: “With God, nothing is impossible.” In the original Greek, this sentence reads more woodenly: “There is no word (spoken) which God does not have the power to make happen.” That sentence is a hinge that swings open the door of holy imagination. It reminds us that God specializes in doing what no one else can do. He brings life where we assumed nothing could grow. He creates paths where we saw only dead ends. He speaks hope into places that felt abandoned. Advent waiting is not rooted in wishful thinking; it is rooted in the character of the God who makes the impossible possible. When we wait with wonder, we allow ourselves to be surprised by His creativity and faithfulness. Expect the unexpected, the long-expected but not seen … yet.

Even as we anticipate God’s action, waiting can still feel taxing. Life does not pause just because the liturgical calendar turns to Advent. In fact, it usually gets fuller. Responsibilities, pressures, uncertainties, and desires continue pulling at us, and sometimes waiting feels like one more burden to carry. 

Pray for a different attitude this Advent: one with awe and wonder. When we wait with wonder, God reshapes lives. He stills minds. He enlightens hearts. He strengthens weary souls. Despite what the chocolate calendars would have you believe, Advent is not a countdown; it is preparation. It is looking forward to what God will beget — a birth. One born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth (LSB hymn 380). It is the training ground of disciples who learn to recognize God’s movement even before it fully appears (Ps. 144:1; 1 Tim. 4:6–8). Be in awe of that; be in an Advent of awe this year. After all, when we consider what is coming in a few weeks time — what God did, what God does, what God will do — how could we not?

O Lord, How Shall I Meet You

LSB Hymn 334 • Stanzas 1, 3, 4, 5

O Lord, how shall I meet You,

How welcome You aright?

Your people long to greet You,

My hope, my heart’s delight!

O kindle, Lord most holy,

Your lamp within my breast

To do in spirit lowly

All that may please You best.

I lay in fetters, groaning;

You came to set me free.

I stood, my shame bemoaning;

You came to honor me.

A glorious crown You give me,

A treasure safe on high

That will not fail or leave me

As earthly riches fly.

Love caused Your incarnation;

Love brought You down to me.

Your thirst for my salvation

Procured my liberty.

Oh, love beyond all telling,

That led You to embrace

In love, all love excelling,

Our lost and fallen race.

Sin’s debt, that fearful burden,

Cannot His love erase;

Your guilt the Lord will pardon

And cover by His grace.

He comes, for you procuring

The peace of sin forgiv’n,

His children thus securing

Eternal life in heav’n.