EMBOLDENED

EMBOLDENED

Category: Advent Reflections

Expectant Waiting

December 9th, 2025

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Psalm 130:5-6

Watchmen wait for dawn with no hesitation because they’re certain it will come.

The sun goes down and darkness falls, but they know the sun will rise again.

Like they who wait for first light, may we wait for God — preparing our hearts to receive Him.

Waiting on the Lord

In Hebrew, there are two words primarily translated to wait. Yakhal is a type of waiting held together by patience and trust, marking Noah’s patience for the flood waters to recede, or Job’s waiting on God in the midst of his suffering. It’s the waiting in Jeremiah that drew God’s people to search for light in the darkest of times.

Used 49 times, Qavah expresses a waiting, tarrying, and gathering together that is expectant, preparatory, and active. This is the longing of God’s people in Isaiah and the Psalms, waiting eagerly and desperately for the presence of God. It is their hunger for His righteousness, their hope for His coming light, and their expectation for the Messiah’s arrival just as God said He would come. They waited on God because they believed Him when He said He would deliver them, restore them, heal them, bring blessing upon them, and send One who would save them.

God is a keeper of covenant. He’s worth waiting for.

As people of God, we are invited, challenged, and encouraged to wait for Jesus’ arrival with great anticipation and hopeful trust, believing that He is a Man of His Word.

In the Old Testament, as the Israelites longed for God’s deliverance, their hope was sometimes messy, always eager, and ripe with expectation. When the Son of Man comes, they’d say, I’m not going to miss Him.

When He comes, I’ll be ready.

In the midst of their hope, God’s people were honest in their ache for His presence in their lives. How long O Lord, the Psalmists say countless times. It was a soul-bearing confession from their hearts to His in the midst of their troubles, and it was there that they found renewed hope. As they came before God with their God-help-me’s and Lord-help-my-unbelief’s, God was renewing their hearts and restoring their hope by reminding them who He was. He drew close in their afflictions, then set their feet upon higher places.

So often, we think honesty and longing are evidence of meager, weak faith, but in many cases in scripture, it’s the opposite. Bold faith doesn’t come when doubt is absent, but instead when we come to God with shaky faith – offering him what little we have, and trusting He can do something with it. Sometimes, bold faith is cultivated in the trenches.

The Israelites’ waiting wasn’t marked by perfect patience or politeness, but deep longing as their hearts cried out for God’s deliverance. In Psalm 130, it’s what drew the writer to wait on God as watchmen wait for dawn – scanning the horizon for first light – knowing it’s not a question of if but when.

God’s Redemption

As watchmen are delivered from their waiting with the breaking of dawn, the tension of our waiting is broken with the arrival of God’s Son.

…

In our doubt or longing, we tug on the threads of God’s redemption story, from Genesis to Exodus to 2 Samuel to Jeremiah then to the Gospels and beyond, looking for flaws in what He’s crafted. But from generation to generation we don’t find abandonment or forgetfulness. What we find is God’s faithfulness.

So, let us remember Him.

In Jesus, we see the fulfillment of the Psalmists’ longing, their waiting coming to an end with His long awaited arrival. For us, who find ourselves between Christ’s First and Second Coming, we too find ourselves in faithful, honest, expectant waiting – opening our hearts to believe that Jesus will come again to make all things new.

If our prayers sound like the Psalms, then let our praises sound like them, too. As we wait, we don’t have to be led to despair. By making Christ the subject of our hearts’ deepest worship, our waiting can become a place of preparation. Israel’s affectionate hearts chased wholeheartedly after the Lord in mourning and in dancing, reminding us no matter where we find ourselves now, he has not left us behind, but is presently restoring our hearts back to communion with Him.

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The Father Makes Himself Known

John 1 tells us, the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

When we see the story of Jesus’s birth as part of the unified redemption story God has been writing since the beginning of time, we can’t help but lean in with wide-eyed wonder. It’s soul-catching, the way He loves us, pursues us and desires so deeply to be with us. The Son of God – Son of Abraham, Son of David (Matt 1:1) – who came to us through a humble birth, nestled gently in a cradle in the dirt, is God’s answer to all of our questions.

As our prayers sound like the Psalms in honest, yet hopeful longing, may our praises be no different. May we gather up our affections and bring them before this Worthy God, trusting He is faithful to finish what He has started.

In Christ, the Father has made himself known. In our waiting and our longing and our heart’s most jubilant praise, this is good news.

As we wait with expectation, may we remember the One for whom we’re waiting. In the spaces between, may His heart’s desires take root in our own – shifting our longings and priorities to make room to receive the Savior who has come to lead us home. When He comes, let us be ready to receive him.

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God is faithful in His coming. May He find us faithful in our waiting.
A Child is Born, A Son is Given

December 7th, 2025

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

To the people of Judah in a time of crisis, Isaiah spoke a message of hope and future deliverance by a coming king who would lead them to everlasting.

A kingdom that can’t be shaken, Hebrews says. Isaiah’s promise brought hope to the hopeless, and peace to those who felt like they were barely holding on. If you haven’t noticed yet, this is a common thread in the bible, and is a helpful reminder to us today: the circumstances of God’s people might look like hope is lost, but God’s sights are set on them. There is still hope here; God’s not done.

Indeed, He is making a way. He is sending a rescuer.

In Isaiah, God’s judgement on sin is declared with His promise to save His people with a coming king who will bring justice, restoration, and everlasting peace to the earth. In Isaiah 7 and 9, we are told what this king will be like.

The four titles in Isaiah 9:6-7 illuminate the nature, mission and hope that Jesus’ humble birth, the long awaited king, would bring into the world.

His arrival will change everything, I imagine them saying, light warming their eyes.

That’s the good news of Jesus Christ.

He is our Wonderful Counselor – Our Pele Yo’etz.

Jesus’ counsel is miraculous and extraordinary – transcending our human understanding. Though days are long and our hearts might grow weary, we are not left without help and covering. We have a mighty counselor who goes before us, and hems us in from behind. When we come to Him with questions and doubt that clouds our minds, He helps us make sense of the storms of life – covering us with His peace. His counsel and comfort are supernatural – though he has come to dwell among us in flesh, he is not of this world. He is our Wonderful Counselor.

He is our Mighty God – Our ‘El Gibbor.

Jesus is our heroic warrior, the powerful one. Jesus holds authority and power, yet not in a way that is domineering. He enters into the story quietly and humbly, a precious little baby in a manger. His leadership is unexpected, but his power and might are undeniable.

Putting our hope in Jesus, born in a dusty manger of a small farm town, is not a fragile hope; it’s steady and unshakable. He is mighty and powerful, able to redeem and restore all that has been lost and broken, yet, somehow still, he is gentle enough to hold our life in His hands. The government will be on his shoulders – thank goodness we don’t have to carry the weight of the world, but instead can trust the One who holds it all together. He is our Mighty God.

He is our Everlasting Father – Our Avi-’Ad.

God is our Father – in Him we live, move and have our being. He is our very source of eternity, the Hebrew name tells us.

Scripture tells us often that Jesus is stirred with compassion toward us, as the Father is. Like Father God, His affections are for us — not momentarily or in a way that is fleeting, but in a way that is steady and sure. He is for us – providing, protecting, and guiding.

The Messiah (Jesus) being called everlasting father doesn’t indicate he is the Father of the Trinity, but that he is our eternal protector who cares for His people with everlasting faithfulness. It means that Jesus’ heart swells with love as he considers us — just like the Father’s does.

He is our Prince of Peace – Our Sar Shalom.

This coming king, and the kingdom he will establish, will reflect God’s original intent. You and I were knit together for peace, wholeness, and harmony; the long awaited savior, Jesus, will help us return to the life we were made for – reconciling us with the blood he poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is our ruling authority who governs with peace, bringing justice to the land, and restoring right relationship with our Creator. Jesus didn’t just create peace through the absence of war, but by bringing to us the presence of Someone.

Jesus brings us near by his blood, reconciling us back to God, and ushering us into a new type of living marked by His shalom. He is our Prince of Peace.

This is the good news of the gospel, that our promised savior has come.

Thanks be to God.

The generations before us had this promise to cling to as they waited for the fulfillment of it. Today, we have the person of Jesus to praise as evidence that God is faithful to what He has spoken.

We are children of the inheritance; today, we have the fulfillment. And as we wait for future promises of Christ’s return, let us not miss the moment to worship Him for what He’s already done.

God sent us a Rescuer to make everything right. In him, we find wisdom, leadership, peace, and tenderloving care and protection. This is the child given, the Savior to us born – here to lead God’s people home to the place they’ve always belonged.

Through Him, we’re coming home to the Father’s house, where we’ve always belonged.

God is good on His promises; let us remember Him.

O Holy One,

Thank you for sending your Son.

What a privilege it is to know you,

To know the battle is already won.

Help me today to remember,

to repent and believe.

This is the wonderful truth,

the one that sets us free.

All things will be restored,

by the blood of the lamb, and

the power of our testimony.

The son has set us free,

and we are free indeed.

This is the gospel of Jesus;’

Because of His kindness,

we are free – free indeed.
The Promise of a King

December 5th, 2025

True hope isn’t cultivated with ease. It creeps through the cracks of our missed expectations, and finds us unexpectedly shipwrecked in the raging seas. Hope rises in the tension of waiting when our minds remember the One who quiets the waves and calls storms to cease. Like a cord pulled tight, tension building and bracing for release, we wait with great anticipation. There, we find true hope, the kind that says, there’s something better here if we just hold on a little longer.

This was the ache of Israel – children of the promise, but not yet of the fulfillment. Though today, we’ve seen God’s faithfulness by sending His Son, waiting for God is still our inheritance.

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For generations, Israel searched far and wide for a leader who would restore their kingdom and throne. Through war, foreign occupation, and exile, some of God’s people struggled to believe His plans for them were good. God spoke of blessing and flourishing, but when they looked around, that’s not what they saw. Yet even then, when circumstances were less than ideal, some still chose to believe God’s light would find its way through. When their lives’ conditions didn’t change or improve, they still clung to the Word of God. Here is where they learned: remembering God’s promise leads to hope.

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When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you…and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. – 2 Samuel 7:12-16

The days are coming, declared the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord our Righteous Savior. – Jeremiah 23:5-6

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At the end of 2 Chronicles, the kingdom of Jerusalem falls, and Israel doesn’t have a temple or a king. They, too, find themselves under foreign occupation during the Babylonian exile. At the time, many grew desperate, thinking God this is not how you told us it would be. Where is our king? But this ache whispers us ahead to the kind of Redeemer God would send.

Here, the author calls back the Davidic covenant of the Messiah to come. He will be a king, and his kingdom will have no end. As the story progresses for the temple restoration project led by Nehemiah, Israel stirs with excitement, believing they’d soon receive their king. God’s people called upon the prophecies that promised one who’d reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

All who hoped in the Lord carried strained hearts as they remembered the promise God whispered to David in 2 Samuel of a leader from his line who would establish the throne of God’s kingdom forever. Where is our king, the one who will save us, and help us find safety? Every failed crown grew their heart’s desperation, but hope led their eyes to look beyond their situation. God said it would be, so it will be, the faithful said. Each earthly king brought them closer to the One who would save them, and restore their house to prosperity.

All we must do is wait expectantly.

After Jerusalem falls, Ezra and Nehemiah come along and the temple and Jersualem’s walls are rebuilt, but their search continues for their reigning king. Their hopeful sighs sets the stage for the arrival of Jesus, the true Messiah to lead God’s people to flourishing.

Hide His Word in your Heart

In the closing chapters of the Old Testament, Israel returns from exile, restores God’s temple, and get into an argument with God about when they would see Him be faithful. After all their suffering, patience, and endurance, Israel was ready to “see” God’s blessing. After God’s promise to send a redeemer, and his reminder of the reigning king from David’s line, God goes quiet. For 400 years, there is not a word from Him.

Before Jesus entered the world, his entrance the breaking of God’s silence, God dwelt there in the quiet. He searched for a faithful remnant who chose hope without knowing how or when He would reveal Himself to us. He waited for a few who trusted His word was true.

For that faithful remnant, hope remained steadfast – even when God was silent – because His Word was hidden in their hearts. Even in the tension, faith lingered, because God was their Author and Finisher.

Through war and sickness, exile and rebuilding, silence and the tension of waiting, God’s promise remained the hope of His people. Let it be the same for us. We are not done waiting for God, but we can be sure of His faithfulness because of the ways He’s already been good.

Hide His word in your heart, and watch it bloom. All it takes is a mustard seed. Behold, he will come to make all things new.

Joining the Faithful Remnant

May we remember how far God has taken His people, and the ways He’s been good. Whether we see His promises in the natural yet, trust and believe that we are children of the inheritance.

Let us hope in the Lord, the One who makes ways in the wilderness, and builds rivers in the desert.

Let us join the faithful remnant, trusting the King of the eternal kingdom.

Let us hope in the Lord, for He has been good.

Amen.

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NOTE:For thoughtful ways to engage this Advent season, subscribe to my newsletter for stories and simple bible study resources.

On even days, I’ll post a reflection on my blog. On odd days, I’ll send a newsletter with key scriptures, personal stories, and thoughtful questions to go a little deeper.
The Hope of a Redeemer

December 3rd, 2025

Behold, I sent my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)

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Behold, he is coming.

And it’s such great news.

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All across the Old Testament, God established covenants with His people, trying to make a way back to divine communion between man and God. God’s planned to restore hearts back to the life He had intended for His sons and daughters. As He made covenants with even the most righteous of people – Abraham, Noah, Moses, David – each leader eventually abandoned their post. Their brokenness caught up to them. This is the legacy of Israel, forgetting their Maker time and time again, so instead, God planned to establish a covenant that man’s sin could never break. But, this took time.

So, God’s people had to wait. They had to cling to the promise of God, and believe He was a man of His Word before the fulfillment of it.

…

There are a handful of prophesies in the Old Testament where God speaks of a Messiah, Redeemer, and Deliverer, offering hope to His children stuck in darkness and captivity. Each of these promises points to Jesus, the sinless and perfect man who died on our behalf for the forgiveness of sins – whose seemingly mundane, yet wildly extraordinary, birth is remembered every December through the season of Advent.

Placed as the final book of today’s ordering in the Old Testament, Malachi is God’s final word before an era of silence. It’s a message directed to those living in Jerusalem, after the temple had been rebuilt when the Israelites expected the prophetic hopes to come to pass. They were anticipating the arrival of the Messiah to establish God’s kingdom and reign with justice and peace – but that’s not what we see. This generation ended up being just as corrupt and unfaithful as those who’d come before them.

In this story, the Israelites bring before God a handful of disputes. Doubting God’s love and faithfulness, the Israelites bring half-hearted offerings to the altar of sacrifice, and worship the idols of their wives. The Israelites see injustice and corruption abounding, putting God’s love and tender care on trial. Fretful and feeling betrayed by God, they turn away from the One who seems to do nothing about it.

Where is the God of Justice? they cry.

But despite the doubt and disobedience of Israel, God has compassion on them, staying true to His word and character, giving them promise instead of punishment. As God tells of the moments she’s been faithful, God invites His people to remember their God. Then, He declares,

Behold, I sent my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)

This is the message of Malachi: we are prone to wander, but God keeps His word. He is faithful, even when we’re found forgetful.

If God said so, then there’s reason to hope.

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Behold, he is coming.

This is such good news.

The last of God’s words for generations, this was the promise Israel held onto as they walked. Not until word travels about a baby in Bethlehem did God speak, ending His silence.

Today, let us remember the God who did not forget His people, but promised them a Redeemer who would come to deliver them from their troubles – One who would restore Israel’s flourishing.

As we wait, and God stays quiet, may we remember that even in His silence, He is ever present. Waiting on Him gives us time to ready our hearts to receive the gift He is sending. And in the mean time, He is with us and He has not forgotten us.

As we bring before God our questions like, God, are you listening? God, do you care? God, are you good? God, where are you?, may we trust and believe His promise is for us, too.

God delays because He’s patient, not because He’s withholding. This is the message of Malachi. Let us clean our hands and purify our hearts before the Lord, so that when He comes we’re ready.

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Behold, he is coming…for you. And it’s such great news.

May this be the praise on your lips today: thanks be to God, for He is faithful to His Word.

NOTE: For thoughtful ways to engage this Advent season, subscribe to my newsletter for stories and simple bible study resources.

On even days, I’ll post a reflection on my blog. On odd days, I’ll send a newsletter with key scriptures, personal stories, and thoughtful questions to go a little deeper.
Holy Longing

December 1st, 2025

In the Beginning…

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…And God said let there be light…And God saw that the light was good…God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good…

For five days, God created, and God saw that it was good…

And on the sixth day, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing.

And then…

God blessed them…And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1:1-31 (abbreviated, of course)

He Called It Very Good

This is the life we were made for, a life God called very good.

We were made for peace and joy, for unity and harmony. We were made for wide eyed wonder, and hearts full of delight. We were made for warm light and kaleidoscope colors at sunrise. We were made for basking under twinkling stars, and dancing at sunset in the yard. We were made for laughter and play, for gentle rain after a hot summer’s day. This is the life for which we were made, the life God called very good.

But, one fateful day, sin entered creation and God’s peace and harmony were threatened. The hearts of man, taunted in the valley of shadows, grew tempted by the lure of darkness. God’s grace and faithfulness have beckoned us home ever since.

Looking back at God’s original intentions for man helps us see the redemption Christ carried with him to earth. This takes us back to the garden where He appointed humans to reign over the earth, and over every creeping thing. Where He called us to be fruitful and multiply — filling the earth with His wonder and glory. It draws our hearts back to the place God looked around at everything He had made, and called it very good, so we can see the Father’s love radiating through Immanuel, God With Us.

Holy Longing

In this world’s brokenness, sometimes I forget this wasn’t God’s original design. Not all things are as they were meant to be.

We weren’t meant to break hearts or get our own hearts broken, nor grieve the sins of another while hurting others with our own transgressions. I forget brothers weren’t meant to turn on sisters, and loved ones weren’t supposed to be estranged. We weren’t supposed to shake our fists toward the heavens, wondering if God was kind. We were just meant to know that He was good.

God sees the pointed fingers, the doubtful hearts, the tired eyes; He hears His children’s cries. God sees us putting Him on trial, as if He has caused our pain, but here’s the thing: God longs for the same life we do. Rather, because He created us in His likeness, we long for God’s perfect design.

By sending His Son, God is making a way for us to come home –home, to the garden– where we’ve always belonged. By the grace of God, there is a way. The one who leads us is the only name that brings salvation (John 14:6). The hope of this future – a life restored –rests in Jesus. This is why He came: to bring redemption to a tired and weary land.

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As we sit in the spaces between, knowing the life God created, while still living in a world yet-to-be-fully-redeemed, we hang suspended in what I call holy longing.

Holy longing comes when we remember the life we were made for. It doesn’t lead us to despair – it leads us to hope, because the place we dream of is just around the corner. Holy longing is agreeing with God that what He created is indeed very good, and believing that by the Spirit of God and the blood of His Son, one day we will be able to dance again in the garden of Eden with the One who created us.

For now, we wait and we hope and we pray and we trust and believe that every good work God is sure to complete. We celebrate that God is faithful, and that He has not left us behind to fend for ourselves. We are returning to the place we’ve always belonged, by the grace of God and the redemption of Jesus’ blood.

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Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Today, may you remember the life for which you were made, and the wonder of a God who sent His Son for us even when we disobey and rebel, when we tremble with fear and doubt.

Thank you Jesus for coming for us, for making a way.

One day–

All that is broken will be restored.

All that we’ve done, and that we regret, will be gone.

Sin will be abolished, and life will return.

One day,

we will be home with God in the garden,

And He will call it very good.

Lord, awaken our hearts to your hope today.

Amen

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NOTE: For thoughtful ways to engage this Advent season, subscribe to my newsletter for stories and simple bible study resources.

On even days, I’ll post a reflection on my blog. On odd days, I’ll send a newsletter with key scriptures, personal stories, and thoughtful questions to go a little deeper.