Each day during Advent, we will post some sort of reflection having to do with waiting, anticipation, hope. Each one will be different, each one a chance to pause and take a breath during this busy season. Past posts are archived here.
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If “waiting” is synonymous with living in hope-filled expectation, what does this look like?
For me it means living moment by moment with Christ. So are you thinking “blah, blah, blah sounds like the “right thing to say”?
Allow me to put it another way… Eight years ago my thoughts were dominated by “I want to move! I want a bigger, better, more life fulfilling house!” When I finally reached the end of me & asked God to intervene in my discontent know what He said? “Clean your house.” In my spirit I knew it meant more than the begrudging broom pushing I’d been doing on a semi-regular basis. He was giving me a new attitude through a tangible exercise in obedience. It wasn’t easy, but as I dusted He gently helped me thank Him for the living room I’d only ever thought of as “too small” and He began to open my heart to the beauty of the “home” He’d so graciously given. Now anyone who knows me will tell you I’d still like to move, but these days I don’t think about it much & when I do it’s not for reasons that set my flesh and spirit at war. When I do find myself listening to old lies He reminds me & I reach for the vacuum!
More recently following a sermon about how our beliefs regarding God & money can either free or enslave us, I found myself questioning my passion for art & it’s expression through jewelry design. More specifically, in pursuing a business via said expression. When I asked God “How I can put You first in this oh so earthly thing,” what’d He say? “Go to bed.” What? That’s it?! You don’t want me to start making John 3:16 pendants? I knew it had something to do with my newfound habit of staying up till three AM because I felt there wasn’t enough time in the day to get everything finished that I needed to ( Have YOU ever tried to start a business?!). Needless to say a habit that was beginning to take its toll both mentally & physically; but who’d have thought spiritually as well? I still have a long way to go with this lesson in trust, but now when I hear “Go to bed!” I know in doing so even in this small thing I can honor God.
He’s said “Just be present” when He wanted this unsure child to hang out with people I didn’t know; “Just smile” at someone who looked alone; and “Be quiet and hear what he needs to say” to someone hard to listen to.
So what does this have to do with living and waiting? It’s that my greatest desire when my wait is done is to hear God say “Well done, my good and faithful servant” (Mathew 25:23); and although I sometimes think “There’s no way He’d say that to me.” I remember He doesn’t say I’ll hear these words IF I start a ground-breaking ministry or sacrifice the same way he asks of someone else. He simply tells me to listen and follow where He leads (John 10:27), and what I can fully expect in JOYFUL anticipation is that Jesus will ALWAYS lead me closer to Himself.
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Today’s post was written by Sheila Cabrera.
My husband Iggy & I have two grown children, Dan & Rebecca. We first started attending FN back when we used to meet at the Sherwood YMCA. My husband spent 20 years in the air force & during that time traveling stateside and abroad we attended numerous churches. We visited some that extolled the Truth, but demonstrated little love and others that seemed to have an abundance of what appeared to be “love”, but very little Truth. What I’ve always appreciated most about FN is that it doesn’t separate one from the other. I also run a jewelry design business named BrixLoft with business partner Hannah Little.
You can find Sheila on Facebook or reach her by email here.