In the midst of our dark world: Yes, we live in a busy, busy world, which has encouraged us to expect that much can be resolved in an instant:
- “It’s someone else’s fault – they need to fix it for me”
- “I’ll win the lottery and then everything will be OK”
- “I’ll have my stomach stapled, then I’ll be skinny & everything will be great”
- “God needs to sort this all out – I need a miracle”
Through my last 3+ years of counselling, I have slowly come to a realisation that often the miracle that God gives us is the daily miracle – for some days this may be the ability to get out of bed, on others it may be something more spectacular. As Nouwen says “When I have no eyes for the small signs of God’s presence… I will always remain tempted to despair.” God didn’t come to earth with a ‘big bang’, but sent a small child to be born in a manger, who died naked on a cross…
(Nouwen’s thoughts from Gracias! A Latin American Journal)
Hidden Hope: Isaiah 11:1-3, which reminds me that iChurch are doing their Jesse Tree again this year. [And see the other resources for Advent that I’ve drawn together]
Prayer: God cares about the small things in our lives: Philippians 4:6 challenges us:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ”
We should also be thankful for the small things. Amongst the loud commercialism of Christmas, we need to remember the promises that God gave us, and the hopes of his coming.
This is something that I spent Saturday morning listening to Rich Wyld talk about – see Storify of his talk.
Advent Action: Note ‘with thanksgiving’ – we are to look for ‘one small sign that God is present in my daily life’. I like to see God on my daily walks, and as I’ve written this 3rd December – here’s something that lifted me out of quite a dark weekend – the sight of Durham Cathedral in the snow (whilst I was wrapped up warm – I was incredibly thankful for warm boots/coat & hat – making me think of places such as Winchester Churches Nightshelter & the Trussell Trust who are both particularly busy at this time of year)
So now I’m going off to read Pam’s “Day 1” reflection.
