Figured Out?

Do you have everything figured out?

Do you have God figured out?

Are you working out your faith, or are you living in such a way that God doesn't have room to work or move?

I've always loved the story of Abraham and Sarah...of their journey toward faith and the way God taught them and made them into something they couldn't dream for themselves.

Abraham and Sarah are considered parents of our faith...not because they had everything figured out, but because they finally realized that maybe they weren't supposed to figure God out.  Maybe they were supposed to let God surprise them with joy.  They allowed grace to spring up within them and they waited for the fulfillment of God's promise to them.  

The same elements are present in the Advent season.  We recognize that we need grace to break into our hearts and spirits to heal us.  We need to believe that God's promises to us and to the world will be fulfilled.  We need to laugh at ourselves...because we don't know what we need; God does.

Longing, hoping, waiting...these are quickly skipped over in hot pursuit of the celebration.  But in the longing for something better, for something more...in the hoping for God to work and move and fulfill promise...in the waiting (hard as it may be) for whatever is best for us...

That is where we begin to know what our faith means to us and to the world...and to truly celebrate...for unto us a child is born, a Son is given...and his name shall be Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Not for one day, but for an eternity.