It's noteworthy the fact that Advent is so easy to celebrate and experience due to the fact that we know so fully the outcome of the awaited for. The Christ child, the Baby Jesus. We know what happened, and when it happened.
The Advent season though in the Bible lasted years. Decades. What was to come had not come, and no one quite understood how the Messiah would come.
The distress of the unknown caused so much ache, so much grief at the realization no control. Faith was all the Old Testament could have at best. In the New Testament, so many needed to see to believe.
In my own life, I can easily see ways I do not live my life in Advent. The seasons of waiting. The lineage of what is to come is happening now, and I don't pay attention.
The miracles, the blessings in Jesus' story long before He himself was given to us on a night in Bethlehem, they were happening.
Jesus was coming long before He came.
I want to be able to see Him everyday in the Advent of His plans for me. His "coming" through the things that happen today, on His way to my tomorrow.
I've been struck by this hope, this cool hand on a feverish head of mine. I love Advent. I love Christmas, this season of peace.
And it's mine today, not just as a reflection, but as a representation of my Savior existing in my today, as He walks me through my ever "coming" tomorrows.
Luke 2:8-15
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
Yet the Lord reaches out to us, holding us, offering us the hope to enable us not to be afraid. There is Good News. A joy for us. Now, today.
In the city of Hermitage, Tennessee, a Savior is still born to me, today. Christ, the Lord. My constant struggles and failings represent a sign to me that I'm still in need of Him, and He is still Mine as I am His.
We can say to each other, let's open our eyes to see what the Lord has told us about. In his word. He's promised to never leave us, to never forsake us. Forsaking all else, He prizes us above the rest of the universe. His priorities rest on us. His best interests are with us. He is Immanuel.
I want to be as those shepherds were, praising God, singing glory to God in the highest. They didn't know that they would be walking into yet another season of Advent, of waiting for what He would be next.
We'll always be in a season of Advent. The coming of His Kingdom. Our desires for the future might become wrapped in swaddling clothes, sometimes seeming so inappropriate. The King of Kings lay his head where animals ate. Our expectations and hopes get thrown so out of our hands in a way that feels painful, mocking. Yet His coming is not delayed. His plans are prevailing.
Advent is here, and always coming.
Anticipation is exciting. It's something I enjoy almost more than the real thing sometimes.
Today's my birthday. I realized on my way to a birthday lunch with my daughter and my husband that my birthday was already half way over. It made me sad. I spend all year waiting for my birthday, and it's already almost gone. The anticipation of it is half the fun.
The Advent season is filled with anticipation. Every moment is pregnant with excitement. As a pregnant woman aches to be relieved of the weight of the unborn, desiring to see the face of what is to come, we ache presently with our plans, or futures. Longing so deeply to be relieved of the weight of hope, the burden anticipation lays on us.
Yet with Christ, His yoke is easy, His burden is light. In Him we can see the face of rest, though we anticipate. Though we look forward, we can laugh with easiness at the days to come. We can experience Advent every moment with the restored hope that all is well.
This Advent, I'm refreshed by the truth that Advent is not just a memory of what happened in Bethlehem so many years ago, but that Advent is a future and a hope that God knows. He knows the plans He has for us.
Advent might become more dim as Christmas lights get put away, and left over Christmas cookies for breakfast become kale smoothies again.
But Advent is not over. We still look forward with the Hope we have in Christ, no matter what comes.
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