What Advent Means to Me

The season is upon us. A four-week procession into the heart of Christmas, steeped in tradition and festivities that beckon our senses to remember the birth of Christ. Candles will be lit. Stories will be told. Scents of cinnamon, nutmeg and fir trees will linger in the air.

It is the season of Advent.

It is the season of coming.

With eager anticipation, our souls are reminded that God came. He filled his promise. We were not abandoned. God came. In the midst of a confusion, despair, self-absorption, He met us where we are. He told us what was wrong. He provided a way out. God came.

Advent is Christmas and Easter. It is the sleepless night before a big presentation the next day. It is wrapped up in the hope & vulnerability of a marriage proposal. Because deep down inside, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ve attempted to satiate this hunger to know with lesser things. We still need to know that God has come. That we were worth coming for. We’re scared how God might answer.

If we quiet our souls long enough to listen to God’s heartbeat, we will find that He already answered. God came.

So in this season and the next. In this chapter of joy or pain and the next, wait. Remind your soul, regardless of whether it is summer or winter, spring or fall, that Advent is appropriate in all seasons. God came. He loves you. And regardless of where you are, God’s grace is sufficient.

“The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus‬ ‭14:14‬

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭21:3–4‬ ‭ESV‬‬