Adele and Advent: Worth the Wait

If you’ve been following me on social media the past few weeks, then you know how much I adore Adele. I have been counting down to last Friday’s release of her new album, 25, and have now spent this past weekend listening to it on repeat. The anticipation was due not only to her amazing talent, but to the four-year hiatus since her last album, 21.

25 is on track to be a record-breaking album, projected to sell at least 2.5 million copies in the first week alone, which would be the highest weekly sales for any album since 1991. In support of it, Adele has seemingly been everywhere, from an undercover and self-deprecating performance at an Adele look-alike competition to an appearance on Saturday Night Live, which parodied her unique ability to unite family members across a political divide.

Adele is a powerhouse of talent and artistry. There is a vintage chic quality to her voice that transcends current pop music. The lyrics she writes offer depth and relational nuance. Multiple times this weekend I found myself thinking that there is maturity in Adele’s songs that I often do not hear today.

As the season of Advent approaches, a time of waiting and preparing, I think of the four-year wait Adele fans experienced. Adele lived life in these last four years. She went through heartache, expanding family and a new relationship. She waited with integrity to release this new album. In our world today it almost seems countercultural to wait. There is pressure to quickly produce new material, even if that material is less than artistic. Adele has said that she was going to start writing this new album sooner, but it just wasn’t time yet. She has stayed true to her integrity, her voice and her artistry in creating this long-anticipated album. It’s a process from which Christians can learn.

I think of the many different Psalms that offer a word of exaltation around waiting patiently for God. Psalm 130 expresses that in our waiting we will not be disappointed. God is acting and preparing us while we wait. Adele’s much-anticipated album speaks to what happens when we wait. We are provided the chance to sit with our own thoughts, to pray, to live and then from that experience offer the integrity of our voice. Waiting provides substance for our communication.

From a Christian perspective, I find Adele’s new album to be a wonderful counterpart to my preparations for Advent. What will God do this Advent as we actively wait and prepare for the coming of Christ? Will we trust that God is at work even in our waiting? As I listened to 25 multiple times this weekend, I was reminded that those who wait on the Lord will not be disappointed.