There is joy and excitement in the sights and sounds of Christmas all around us. Beautiful decorations and lights on homes, businesses, parks, and streets. The calendar fills up with special events in our community and churches or with family and friends. If we look around, we see that for many there is a great anticipation and a hopeful expectancy of something good to celebrate and treasures to unpack during this season.
But our world is also weary and troubled, and there are times that the season doesn’t feel as joyful, exciting, or merry as we would want to feel. Conflict in our world as well as personal struggles, financial strain, loss and change, relationship challenges, health circumstances, and even the busyness of the holiday season bring a weariness to our bodies, our minds, and our souls. A person of faith may know that there is a reason to celebrate, but sometimes these circumstances can drain the joy from any of us.
The promises of Advent remind us that hope, joy, peace, and love are all around us. We are reminded that God is always present and hope is always something that we can grab hold of, but when we are weary, it is sometimes hard to find. I want to encourage you to take a posture or position to seek and discover more fully these promises in your life. God is with us but we must have eyes to see and a heart that is open.
The lyrics in the beloved song of worship O Holy Night tell us to fall on your knees and before Him lowly bend. There are other words of posture like by His cradle we stand. These physical and spiritual positions are a true response of encountering the glory and majesty of God’s work in the world through Jesus. But they are also an invitation to experience God’s presence more fully.
Take the time to be near to God. Bow in humility and declare His goodness and majesty. Look up in reverence to the Creator of the universe while lifting your hands and your hearts to yield to God’s way. A humble prayer, a breath of peace, reaching up in praise, reaching out in hope. Put your body and your spirit in a position and a posture to encounter the living God this season. As the song continues Let all within us praise His holy name. Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever! His power and glory evermore proclaim!
Amy Givens, Director of Youth Ministry and Discipleship
