This summer I got hooked on sailing. Debra and I took lessons, learned the lingo, and got mesmerized by the interplay of wind, water and sail. One day we got out on the water with some friends only to find that there was very little wind. The forecast said the winds would kick in, but it was taking longer than expected. Should we take the sails down and head in? Instead we waited, sails up, in patient expectation. And in the end were rewarded with a beautiful day of calm winds. I’m glad we didn’t bring the sails down.
With 2015 about to wrap up it seems to have been a year much like our day of sailing… a year of waiting in patient expectation.
We’ve been waiting patiently for the economy to fully recover to its former pace. Some are concerned about a recession. But this is not 2008. Financials and housing are not in the mess they were 7 years ago. As always, there are challenges and threats…Isis, the global slowdown, and how the Fed raising rates could affect the global economy. But according to the non-profit economic research group, “The Conference Board,” expectations are that the economy will continue growing, although slowly. We wait in patient expectation for the economy to start growing to its full potential.
As of the date of this writing (12/2), we also continue waiting in expectation for the Fed to raise rates. All eyes seem to be on a rate hike in Dec., indicating the Federal Reserve feels the economy is strong enough to start standing on its own. That’s a good thing. It may cause a ripple in the markets when it’s done. But it shouldn’t be long-lived. So, we wait in expectation.
And we also wait expectantly for the stock market to get back to its mid-year high, and continue its upward trajectory. After several years of strong growth from 2009-2014, the market caught up with the economy. And so, this past year the market has been basically flat. Will the market winds kick back in soon? We wait in patient expectation of 2016. I’m keeping my sails up.
All this talk about waiting in patient expectation reminds me of an ancient story from the Middle-East. Long ago, a nation had waited hundreds of years in patient expectation for a leader to come and deliver it from oppression, based on prophecies from its sacred writings. One such prophecy read:
For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulders.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
The nation waited. And this leader came, fulfilling the prophecy and dozens of others in amazing detail; the place of birth, the deliverance he would bring, the death he would suffer. Now, we celebrate the patient expectation and coming of this leader, Jesus the Messiah, for deliverance from all spiritual oppression we face in this world, and in ourselves.
May you be blessed this holiday season as you celebrate this Christmas gift.
Greg
