I have a dear friend, Joy, who travels with me all over the world. She loves to preach the gospel. But what makes her heart surge with life is keeping her eyes upward, awaiting the return of her soon-coming King. She is 80 and has taught the Bible her whole life. For the past five years, we have run to the nations together.
There have been moments in my life when I think, “Other generations thought Jesus was coming soon, and they passed away.” I honestly get weary of holding fast with tenacity and focus. And Joy will remind me over and over not to lose hope. She said to me in a text just yesterday, “I love the term that is used a couple of times in Scripture: ‘earnestly awaiting.’ We are earnest awaiters!”
How John the Baptist Awaited the Lord
Let’s read about one such “earnest awaiter.”
“‘And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.’” -Luke 1:76-79
“The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. John answered them all, ‘I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’” -Luke 3:15-17
Can you imagine 400 years of God not speaking, and the one person God puts on the scene to prepare the way for Jesus is a radical, extremely simple guy who lived on honey and grasshoppers? But he knew how to draw a crowd, and he walked unwaveringly in God’s call on his life. His role was to prepare people for the coming Savior.
John the Baptist was an “earnest awaiter” who didn’t navel gaze while he stormed the fields for grasshoppers. He had an incredibly important role in getting people ready to encounter Jesus.
Your Role in Awaiting the Lord
Is your role any different in this present age? I would argue, most emphatically, no.
John the Baptist knew his God-given mission: to prepare the way for the Lord. John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord (John 1:23).”’”
He lived his entire life readying people for the coming Messiah, keenly aware of his own need for Jesus. John’s life teaches us what it truly means to be an “earnest awaiter”:
- Focused on God’s purposes
- Actively preparing others
- Living with humility and urgency
- Remaining faithful through challenges
John preached repentance. He earnestly called people to turn from sin and prepare their hearts for the arrival of their Savior—a profound revival message! This wasn’t a passive waiting but an active preparation in and through John. His life and call to revival are the same for us today in this hour.
He recognized and proclaimed Jesus! “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)!’”
Preparing for Christ’s Return
It is from John’s own personal longing and encounter with Jesus that he pointed others to Christ. He helped to shift the gaze of people away from himself and onto Jesus. His life was established in beautiful humility.
“‘He must become greater; I must become less.’” -John 3:30
He lived with urgency and expectation. His sheer separation from the things of the world gave him an intense focus on the things of Christ. As our distractions multiply and the world increases in evil, this is going to have to be an intentional pursuit for God’s people.
He suffered for his commitment through both imprisonment and martyrdom. May the words of Philippians 1:21 be the words of our heart: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Like John, we too are called to wait expectantly for Christ’s return, living in readiness and pointing others to Him. This is our time to prepare the way of the Lord, Church!
“Her Bridegroom is her life, the joy of her heart. Supremely happy in His love, she is enthralled by her heavenly Bridegroom, spending herself for Him, eagerly awaiting His coming and carrying in her heart this one name: Jesus.” -Basilea Schlink, “My All for Him”
Join the Arise Movement
Women who are equipped to live boldly for the gospel are a key to unlocking movements of the gospel in the world’s spiritually darkest places. Through Arise, East-West helps women take action and follow the Holy Spirit to be bold and reach the lost. Understand your role in the Great Commission and be equipped to boldly bring the world an encounter with Jesus.
