The song fills the church as silence bookends the moment. The lone voice rings out crystal clear as the lyrics stir the hearts of those present.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
The plaintive minor key weaves through the lyrics as the song continues and the weary world awaits. Each note and supplication is a soul-filling invitation for Jesus to enter our hearts.
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
Advent is an invitation from the One who loves us beyond words. It’s a lifelong opening of our hearts to God. When we sing songs like O Come O Come Emmanuel, we prepare to receive the gift of Jesus. Humble adoration and praise emanates from our lips even as the weary world awaits.
If Advent is an invitation, then you need to ask yourself if you will accept?
Here is where I sit and wait this week. These words accompany the quiet.
Better to have one handful with quietness
than two handfuls with hard work
and chasing the wind. Ecclesiastes 4:6 NLT
The pull is strong to lean into God and just be. But I find as easy as that sounds, my mind wanders and with it my resolve. God is not giving up on me. Just when I begin to accept that I am living an Advent life, God gently nudges me toward Him deeper and stronger.
What is it like to be fed all year long and not just the four weeks leading to Christmas? How would life look different if we embrace Advent as our way of life?
Max Lucado shares these words in Because of Bethlehem:
We enjoy the fruit of the first coming but anticipate the glory of the second. We refuse to believe that this present world is the sum total of human existence. We celebrate the First Advent to whet our appetites for the Second. God has a timeline. And because of Bethlehem, we have an idea where we stand on it.
Living an Advent life is believing that God is present with us. He desires deeper relationship with us and invites us to journey with Him to redemption. The life we are living now is a reflection of the first Advent. At that time in Bethlehem, the weary world awaited a newborn, Savior. Four hundred years of uncertainty and silence broke into new life and rejoicing when Jesus was born.
An Advent life chooses rejoicing because the gift of Jesus is better than anything the world provides.
We remain weary when holiday traditions push and pull against Advent rest and stillness. But if you are familiar with the song, O Holy Night, the words declare:
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new glorious morn
A new perspective changes everything. It’s as if God lays clues in unexpected places to remind us how much He wants to spend time with us. Our weariness can define us or shape us into a new creation. We can hold onto a sense of crushing fatigue or choose to rejoice that with God a new day dawns gloriously.
Today we are given the gift of new mercies and blessings. Let’s wrap our minds around what this perspective brings to this day and our lives. Most often people choose to remain in the space of what feels comfortable. I am learning to step into the uncomfortable and embrace this Advent life as one that comes with weariness, but also rejoicing.
I will leave you with these words from Shelly Miller, author of Rhythms of Rest: Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World:
Life is big like God’s kingdom. Relationship is small town with Jesus. He knows your name and what you will say before you utter it. His couch is always available and bread never runs out, no matter the circumstance. A forced Sabbath can be unexpected grace–a small portal of escape when life feels big, overwhelming, and interrupted.
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May we take Shelly’s words and make them our own. Let’s choose rest and stillness and in the process receive deeper relationship and grace from the One, who loves us well and always.
Sabbath Blessings,
Catch up with all the Advent series by clicking, HERE and HERE.
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
***Here’s a little gift for you!***
Here are two lock screens for your phone created by my son, Nicholas.
And here is a little tutorial in case you don’t know how to save it to your phone!
I love the words to the Christmas Carols. Thanks for sharing this thought-filled post. I so appreciate your generous heart. Many blessings this Christmas and Advent Season.
Advent is my favorite and when you couple that with music it is even better. Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet encouragement. Blessings!
This message really pulls at my heartstrings, Mary. I so want to have an Advent life all year around. I’m so grateful God is sooo patient with us! I’m so glad He keeps drawing us nearer with His everlasting arms of love! Thank you for this encouragement! Love and hugs to you!
Thank you for letting me know this touched you. The blessing is how God draws into His embrace with new understanding, deep love, and all the grace we need. Thank you for blessing me by sharing your sweet encouragement.
Mary,
In reading Shelly Miller’s words, I can relate to a “forced Sabbath”. Having had my gallbladder out right before Thanksgiving and then being forced to “bed rest” (or house arrest as I call it), due to dangerously low hemoglobin levels, I’ve had no choice but to rest and be still. I should be used to this by now, but still, I squirm…maybe if I’d just learn the lesson, I wouldn’t have to be forced to the sidelines so often?! I do have to say it does whet my appetite for the second Advent. Thanks for the welcome words for this weary one who waits. How’s that for alliteration?
Advent blessings,
Bev xo
If you read all of Shelly Miller’s book, a forced Sabbath is meant to be a good thing. You have had many circumstances that have caused you to fall back on rest that were out of your control. Sabbath is meant to be a time of intentional choosing. I pray that your weariness turns into rejoicing for all you learn in the journey. And I am sure that God needs you healthy to continue the good work you have already started.
Dear Mary,
Oh such beautiful thoughts to ponder today. Especially these: “Just when I begin to accept that I am living an Advent life, God gently nudges me toward Him deeper and stronger.” He is always nudging, and revealing the places in my heart where there is still so much more to be opened towards Him. Again, your photo with the fog over the lake expresses that thought so well. We cannot see, we WANT to see, but God holds the way ahead for us. He asks us to open our heart. Thank you for sharing these words, and thank you for the lockscreens from your son also! Blessings to you!
I find that this season of my life (meaning my age) is one new lesson from God after another. It is a time of opening up who I am to more of God and when it comes to Advent, this is especially true. Thank you for noticing my photos. I love that they convey exactly what I was hoping they would convey. I am loving how God is teaching me and providing new insight all the time. Thank you for being here and encouraging me so well.
“…bread never runs out, no matter the circumstance.” For some reason that really resonates for me today. Maybe because I had such a discouraging day yesterday! Yes, His gift is better than anything the world provide. Thanks for continuing to spread the message of Hope through Christ, Mary!
Don’t you just love that thought? I’m sorry to hear you had a discouraging day, but I pray today was better. The best part of anyway is that Jesus is always with us and He is a beautiful gift.
Good morning Mary. Yes, my breath slowed as k read your words. The quote from Max Mucado spoke loudly. We all like to know where we stand 🙂
Thank you for spending a bit of time here this morning. Max Lucado has a way of saying what needs to be said in a way that touches us deeply. Blessed to have you hear.
This morning I will be teaching in Sunday School opening from the carol O Little Town of Bethlehem, that God directed the huge Roman Empire and the stars in the heavens to accomplish his purposes in the birth of Jesus. There’s so much BIG in the narrative arc of prophecies fulfilled and redemptive plans accomplished. And there’s so much going on in the quiet of people’s hearts as, one by one, they responded with worship or “pondered in their hearts” what the incarnation meant. Thanks, Mary, for your help in appreciating and working toward a true celebration of this multi-layered holiday!
I pray your teaching this morning went well. There is so much we can learn not only from God’s word and our ponderings, but the carols that are so rich in God-breathed words too. We are a blessed people to not only know God, but have His spirit reside in us to guide us. Advent leaves me breathless because of the rich layers of history and all that is yet to be.
I find that now I have to accept the gift of Advent year round, wrapped in the Alamo-anticipation of the bayonets glinting at the top of the wall.
The gift comes on the other side of the steel, and while cancer will win in the end, it’ll be a hard fight.
And pancreatic cancer will remember my name.
Thanks for stopping by. So glad you got to meet Susan when she and her husband were on their road trip. What a blessing!