Saturday, December 21, 2013

Immanuel

These last few days have been frantic for me, trying to materialize the ideas, plans and hopes that are in my mind and on my list.  It is not a comfortable place to be.  The feeling that I have not kept this Advent season the way I anticipated looms over me tonight. I guess I wanted to be more like Simeon who was waiting with a devotedness that was divinely given, not like Martha who although diligent, found herself complaining because of her frantic solo preparations.
I'm a reader, a pen-and-notebook scribbler, who delights in finding just that phrase or thought that feeds my soul and sends me to a different place, even if just for a moment.  The stacks of books next to my bed, the baking supplies stocked in my pantry, the household tasks needing my attention, have brought a little despair, not joy as I face that ever-present reminder that I am finite, I have limits, I cannot do it all, read it all, write it all, bake it all, make it all.
Advent and Christmas do not rest on my shoulders, Isaiah prophesied that burden was for Another.  I do not have to make Christmas special, it already is special.  The Son of God came to dwell with us, to die for us, to live for us.  Our perfect substitute in every area of life.  Jesus said that He came to give abundant life and for those who are His sheep, that's what we already have, there's no need to chase after it, create it, or schedule it in. We already have it now.  James tells us to "humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you."  How much fruit produced in my life is indicative of how well I am tending the garden that has been planted in me.

Psalm 1:3  "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

I'm not one for morbid introspection, my faults are always before me; but a constant re-alignment is needed because sin is so deadly, so invasive, so unwelcoming. I know that I worship the God of the Universe who has called me out of the "dominion of darkness" and brought me "into the kingdom of the Son He loves" as Colossians 1 reads. That is overwhelming. But the right kind of overwhelming, the kind that surges and propels you forward with new energy and joy to continue the race.

"For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people." ~Simeon, Luke 1:30-31




1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this Heather. Love you and a Merry Christmas to you and yours. xx

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