Expecting God requires faith and I recently read a quote
from Madeline L’Engle: “Faith is for that which lies on the other side of
reason. Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and
ambiguities and sudden, startling joys.” Perhaps we adults try to be too
rational about God. We rationalize even our expectations of God by saying ‘I’m
not worthy’ or ‘God is too busy to care about my little problem’. Faith however
says the opposite. Faith says God considers each of us worth so much that he
‘sent his only Son…”(John 3:16) Faith says “Ask and you shall receive.”
(Matthew 7:7)
Jesus says we must “have faith like a little child”. How can
that be? A child can’t understand God. And of course that’s the point. We are
not meant to understand or explain the Holy, but to believe and expect that God
is present. We become aware that God is good and God is in all things. 
A child often finds it much easier to believe than we
adults. A child simply believes. A child accepts God and fairies and magic
without trying to figure them out. A child finds joy in pretending to be a
princess or a soldier. A child waits impatiently, but with expectation, for
Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy. A child doesn’t doubt
that his wish on a star will happen. A child is quick to share joys and hurts
and wants and needs. A child expects a good outcome to each morning.
We adults too often lose that anticipation and expectation.
We smile tolerantly when a child wishes urgently on her birthday candle. We
helpfully act the part of Santa or the Easter Bunny to ‘keep the magic alive’
for our children, all the while shaking our heads at the innocence that
believes these fictions. We hide our own hurts and wants and needs out of fear
of seeming weak and not self-sufficient. We crawl out of bed, too often,
dreading the day to come instead of expecting to find God in the midst of the
joys and challenges.
So what if we tried to recapture the “faith of a child” and
to expect to experience God as we go through each day? What if Advent really is
the start of something wonderful and God really is coming? I follow a daily
meditation (d365.com) which recently noted, “When John the Baptist said the
Messiah was coming, people had a hard time believing it, especially when it
came from a guy who ate bugs and wore strange clothes. And yet they followed
him, eager to hear more about the One Who Would Save Us. There's a bumper
sticker: “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” This season asks us to wonder what we would
do if we believed the impossible could happen. What if the Messiah really
is coming again? What if there is a revolution ahead? What if God is bringing
heaven to earth?”
You cannot force an experience of God. You can only be open
and wait in expectation for God to brush by like a butterfly or explode in
front like a burning bush. It’s not easy to be that unguarded because in order
to be available and expecting God, you have to be vulnerable to being hurt by
those around you. But faith tells you that “all things work for good” and that
“my yoke is easy, my burden is light”. Maybe it is worth the risk to try and be more open.
This week, I plan to try and be more expectant to the wonder
of God around me. To be more child-like in my faith and expectation of the Holy
exploding into my life. I wonder if there will be any change.
Join me if you dare…