Read 2 Samuel 7:18-29.
By the time we get to chapter seven, David has experienced the death of his friend, become King, participated in war, and is shouldering the responsibility of leadership for all of Israel. Each of these events reads like yet “another thing” for David. Only when he finally has a chance to rest, God tells Nathan to wake him up with, “Hey, I’m not done with you yet.”
David offers up a prayer to God with the question: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” I imagine him asking this question in a posture of exasperation, fatigue, and desire for stability. To paraphrase verse 25: “Come on, God. Do what you promised! Let’s get there already.”
David longs for rest and the struggle to be over, and so do we. After 18 months of a pandemic, how long until we can comfortably gather in our communities and masks become relics of this COVID-era?
David’s faith is an anchor, keeping him buoyed in a sea of change and challenge. What does it take to have a faith like that, especially when things are hard and exhausting, and all we can do is ask, “Are we there yet?”
Pray
Holy God, in this season of Advent, may we find rest in the comfort of your faith in us, even when we find it difficult to have faith in you. Help us reflect on our hopes, longings, and dreams for a better world, and feel the assurance that all of it is possible. Grant us space for rest as the radical act of self-love it is. Amen.
Rev. Erin Guzmán
Chaplain & UKirk Advisor
UKirk Wooster (The College of Wooster – OH)
Words for Waiting 