Advent is the season of the church year when we take time to wait expectantly and prepare our hearts for Christ's arrival at Christmas. It is a blessed time of quieting ourselves and reflecting on the dark places in our lives where we are waiting and longing for Jesus’ light to shine. It is a gift from God to us, that God knows we desperately need.
Waiting on God is a difficult but holy discipline. It can be difficult to hear God’s still, small voice of invitation when all the other voices surrounding us are so much louder. But if we choose to respond to God’s invitation, entering into the waiting instead of running from it, we open ourselves to receiving God’s loving kindness, and we will be better prepared to see the miracles in our lives when they arrive.
There are plenty of other ways you can spend your time this holiday season. All of us have been bombarded by emails and ads over the past week urging us to enter into this season frantically, with endless to-dos. Shopping, decorating, hosting parties, baking cookies, wrapping presents, and hiding elves can be fun ways to celebrate the season, but if these activities are more exhausting for you than life-giving, you have permission to simplify your holiday practices and embrace the ones that will help bring deeper meaning to everything else you do this season.
Questions for Reflection:
How can I step away from the busyness of life in this season in order to focus on my relationship with God?
What are the areas of darkness in my life where I am waiting for God to intervene?
Where have I seen the light of Christ shine into my darkness in the past?