Advent: waiting, reflecting, preparing

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1,14

Advent—a season of waiting…reflecting…preparing.  Waiting to celebrate the coming of our King.  Reflecting upon all that His coming means to us.  Preparing for His coming again.  He came the first time as a weak, defenseless newborn baby.  He will come again as an omnipotent, conquering King of Kings.  He came the first time to die for the sins of the world.  He will come again to reign and rule this world He made in glory forever and ever.
But right now, we live in the “already...but not yet.”  Already He has come to redeem lost mankind, but not yet has He come again to restore not just mankind but all of creation to the perfection, beauty, and glory for which He originally created them.  No wonder we live on a broken, sin-scarred planet—yes, He’s already come, but all creation waits and groans for the glorious “not yet” when He will come again to fully, perfectly, completely redeem, restore, and renew.
Jesus is the Word who is God, who has always existed, and who at one particular moment in time, entered this world as flesh and blood.  Astounding.  May we never get over the wonder of that—Almighty, sovereign, infinite God becomes limited, finite, vulnerable man.  The eternal Word became flesh, and in the words of Eugene Peterson, “moved into the neighborhood.”   The Word made flesh that we might behold the glory of God.
Over these days of Advent, let's take time—make time—to ponder the wonder of it all.  Praise the One who came and did it all. 
Teach us, Father, over these next few weeks how to wait, reflect, and prepare.  Help us to still our anxious hearts, calm our jangled nerves, and push aside our crazy to-do lists for a few minutes every single day between now and Christmas day so that we can hear from You, talk to You, and worship You.  Might our Advent season this year be tangibly different, because we make it our top priority—before we check our phones or rush to our agendas or worry about our myriad tasks—to bask in Your healing, helping, holy presence.
In You, and You alone, we will find wholeness, restoration, and deep joy.  Not in marking things off our list.  Not in perusing our emails.  Not in careening all over town chasing our endless chores.  Not in efficiency, busyness, consumption, purchasing, accomplishing, doing...
        But in You.  In seeing You.  In savoring You.  In slowing to walk with You at Your pace rather than rushing ahead in hurry or lagging behind in worry.  Thank You for walking with us, beside us, before us, behind us, and in us.
        And thank You for Christmas, where the eternal, infinite, omnipotent Word became flesh and moved into our neighborhood.  Remind us today that You are here with us, no matter how we feel or where we go.  You are here and that changes everything.  To God be the glory.