A FEELING OF AWE (Advent 21)

LUKE 1: 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. (NIV)

Are you filled with awe at the works of God in your own life or have you learned to discount them? “Miracle? No . . . I’m sure science can explain it. Don’t tell anyone that God told you to do this or that. People will think you’re crazy.”

The list of reasons to dismiss the Lord could be longer, but it would never be greater than an enumeration of the blessings of God! God touches us every second of every day, but we choose to ignore His marvelous gifts. Like John the Baptist, what would we be if we accepted the glory of God in His whispers, His acts, and His works in our lives? For, if the Lord’s hand is with us, He can do marvelous things in our lives and in the lives of those we touch. Let us pray:

“Father God, you bent low to touch our lives more than two-thousand years ago. And, still you not only draw near to us, your Holy Spirit lives within us when we make our heart receptive to your visitation. We are filled with awe each day when we take the time to see your footsteps walking beside us and feel your love and grace within us. We ask that this Advent season be the year when we no longer plead for your coming but rejoice in your having come. For you are here, Father, you are here! Forgive us when we have not had the faith to recognize you in our lives. Sometimes we feel your miracle is not for us because we are unworthy of your smile, your whisper, your grace. Of course we are. Holiness cannot live in an imperfect life without destroying that life. Father, we willingly ask that all that we were, may be replaced by all that is you, so that we may become a piece of your plan for the world. In the name of Jesus, the infant of whom angels sang, your son and our redeemer, we pray. Amen”
Doris
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”
Copyright 2011 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.