“One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along, that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, of the arrival of our homecoming, we are already at home. While we wait, we have to trust, to have faith, but it is God’s grace that gives us that faith. As with all spiritual knowledge, two things are true, and equally true, at once. The mind can’t grasp paradox; it’s the knowledge of the soul.”
Michelle Blake (The Tentmaker)
This season of beauty and expectation also holds the painful longing to celebrate with loved ones across an ocean or border. The holidays can open old waiting wounds, bringing reminders of unanswered prayers, dashed hopes and hard losses.
But in the midst of this paradox of the already and not-yet of God’s kingdom, we are reminded that he is the balm for our wearing and longing hearts.
What are you longing for this season? How is God filling you with a knowledge of his presence?
