'Waiting For the Seeds To Grow'

From one of my devotions today:

Waiting For The Seeds To Grow

He ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father.
~Acts 1:3~

"All the figures appearing on the first pages of Luke's Gospel are waiting. Zechariah and Elizabeth are waiting. Mary is waiting. Simeon and Anna, who were there at the Temple, are waiting. Those who were waiting had each received a promise that gave them courage and allowed them to wait. They received something that was at work in them, a seed that had started to grow.

We too can wait only if what we are waiting for has already begun for us. Waiting is never a movement from nothing to something, but a movement from something to something more. Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and Anna were living with a promise. It was a promise that nurtured them, fed them, and enabled them to stay where they were. By their waiting, the promise could gradually unfold and realize itself within them and through them.

O God, you have planted many seeds of faith, hope and love in our hearts. May we learn this Advent to nurture them patiently and courageously."

I thought his went perfectly with my last post as well as my previous few posts this past month. I have so enjoyed relating my waiting period with those from long ago. I realize that I too need to wait anxiously and expectantly on and for the Lord as they did...not waiting on my circumstances!