Waiting for Jesus

Mark Galli:

The crazy thing about this time of year—the time we remember Jesus growing in the womb of Mary, coming as love to this lonely planet—is that we don't have time to be still, let alone wait. It's like there's this conspiracy to prevent us from doing the one thing that can heal our hearts. Do anything, anything, says the Tempter,but don't be still.

I wasn't completely truthful when I said there is nothing we can do to be filled with the love of God. God, in fact, commands us to love him. So what's with that? He must think there is something we can "do." But it turns out that the one thing we "do" is, by its very nature, a non-doing. It's a relinquishment of all doing. We can be still. We can wait.

And this is why we continue to drag ourselves to church (even though most services do their best to quash stillness!). And why we get up in the quiet of dawn to pray. It's why we clear our neighbor's driveway of snow or volunteer at the food closet or spend an evening listening to the heartbreak of a friend. We put ourselves in places where God has been known to show up. In each of these acts, we are saying, "Okay, I'm here where you want me to be. Come, Lord Jesus."