In the Quiet
I’m already getting lost in the season.
I find it so ironic that the start of the Advent season kicks off with a mad rush to get the best of all the sales.
And that’s where I found myself. Even before thanksgiving was over. Scouring the Internet for deals, filling my shopping cart with items, some for others, some for myself. I was constantly checking my email and refreshing Instagram, to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
That whole Fear of Missing Out? It’s real.
As I’ve talked with friends leading up to the Christmas season, we always mention how crazy it’s going to be. How it will fly by. How we’ll be so busy.
And I just think that busy is something we have chosen.
But you know what I’m more scared of missing out on? Truly experiencing the advent season for all that it is.
I was listening to Christmas music on my way to church and this line struck me to tears.
“God is not dead nor does He sleep.”
And I can’t help but think of people, just like you and me, two thousand years ago, awaiting the arrival of their Savior. How they hadn’t experienced God for hundreds of years. How that truth was such a physical reality for them.
How the Savior came not in the way they were expecting it, but in the smallest moments. In a forgotten cave. In the birth of a baby boy.
I want to remember that. I want to remember that Christmas is not in the glamorous parties and extravagant dinners. It’s not in the glittery dress I want to wear or the gifts I’m hurrying to buy. It’s not in the decked out homes and the carols playing everywhere we go.
It’s in the quiet moments.
And I want to choose to awaken to the true spirit of Christmas. Instead of being overwhelmed by so many gifts to buy, I want to remember what that exchange represents. Instead of feeling rushed from one thing to the next, I want to take time to sit under the twinkle lights and remember that light came. I want less stuff, less sales, less rush, and more space.
More space to rejoice in His coming. More space to delight in the most beautiful story that has ever been told. More space for the weight of it to really sink in.
I pray we find the courage to press pause on the busyness of the season. I pray we make moments to rejoice. In tiny miracles and silent nights. In divine gifts and ultimate sacrifices.
In the truth that God is not dead and not asleep.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He… Zechariah 9:9 ESV
