Pop quiz.

What is one of the best antidotes to holiday stress?

Answer? Waiting.

No, really. The answer is waiting.

I think one of the reasons you and I get so overwhelmed during the Christmas season is because we are terrible at waiting, and we hate it when we are forced to practice it.

But being forced to wait is often God’s preferred method to help us keep our sanity. How is it that, when I have so much to do, waiting helps me keep my sanity?

That’s the subject of this week’s Advent: A Different Kind of Waiting post, where I share some of the best Advent posts from around the Web.

In a thought-provoking post, Wheaton College Professor Dr. Marc Cortez reminds us that waiting can change the way we view our time. He provides us with five great ways being forced to wait can be a blessing. I particularly like his fourth point:

4. Waiting reminds us that the present matters.

Sometimes I think waiting frustrates us because we’re too future-oriented, always focused on what comes next. But what about now? Next is in God’s hands. Now is what we have. Done well, being forced to wait can be like watching a particularly spectacular movie scene in slow motion. You know the movie will continue playing at regular speed soon, but for now you’re just enjoying what’s on the screen.

I don’t know about you, but I need to hear that just about every day.

The rest of the post is just as good. So click below and enjoy this timely, hidden gem of a devotional by Dr. Cortez. Let it change the way you view your time this Advent  season. Then come back and share with us which of Marc’s points resonated most with you.

Blessings!

Forced to Wait: An Advent Reflection

by Marc Cortez December 17, 2012