A new beginning

DAILY READING

Isaiah 40:28-31

FIELD NOTES

We generally associate January 1^st with new beginnings. However, in the life of the church, the season of Advent is actually the beginning of a new year. The year does not start with Christmas, with new birth and celebration. Instead, we are meant to wait. 

Waiting and patience are crucial in our faith journey, so it is fitting that we must begin by practicing this spiritual discipline. If we rely on our own devices, our own strength, in a season of waiting then we can easily grow weary. Instead, Isaiah reminds of God’s promise to help us endure “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (v. 31). We cannot appreciate or understand the gift of Christ’s birth, if we do not first understand the wait by God’s people for Immanuel. 

One week away from Christmas, I invite you to be part of the waiting. Come on the arduous, week-long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph. Share in the worry and weariness they must have felt, but also the assurance that a hope in God would carry them through. 

For more on what their journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem must have been like, see this article.

QUESTIONS FOR THE FIELD

• How can you invite God to wait with you? 

FAMILY FIELD TALK

• Have your parent or trusted adult tell you about Mary and Joseph’s trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. How do you think they were feeling on the trip? What do you think they prayed about?

PRAYER GUIDE

Lord, come into my life. Please wait with me and strengthen me. Help me to remember that I cannot do this alone, but I can do all things with You. Amen.