“Oh Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth

The thrill of of hope
The weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!”

Wow, Christmas is literally fast approaching. Seriously, it just took me by surprise that it’s this Sunday already! And the week after that, it’s the New Year! Do you remember the time when Christmas couldn’t get here fast enough, that those presents under the tree seem to have been teasing you forever. (Confession: when I was a kid, I peeked into my presents. I have mastered the art of taking the tape off without ripping the paper and putting it back without anybody noticing–at least, that’s what I thought!). Sometimes I got exactly what I wanted, other times, not exactly.

We’re not the only ones who have waited for Christmas in great anticipation. Before Christ, believers of his coming have waited and generations died waiting for the Messiah to come. Yet people believed and kept watch. Until finally, at the appointed time, Jesus was born to a virgin and the world who had been waiting didn’t even know it was him because they were expecting someone different– a king, a warrior, someone who will free Israel from the Roman Empire and reestablish the country in its former greatness.

But instead, they got a baby in a manger. A carpenter. A man who walked on water. A man who healed and brought the dead back to life. The man who hung out with sinners and tax collectors. A man who didn’t condemn but forgave sins. A man who is the Son of God. A man who claimed that He and His Father are one. A man who didn’t say anything and was crucified. A man who rose from the dead.

We’re all waiting for a lot of things, answer to our prayers, we expect great things from our God, but sometimes, most of the time, God’s concepts of time and greatness differ from ours  that when He finally does answer our prayers, we don’t recognize it because we’re expecting something (or someone) sooner and something (someone) else. My prayer for all of us this Christmas is that we’ll set our hearts not on the things of this world, but on things above. For us to delight ourselves in the Lord and He’ll give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), so we’ll know and recognize God’s answers to our prayers when they come.

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas story (although it’s rarely mentioned because it’s later on after the manger scene) is when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, and there’s a man there named Simeon, who had been waiting for the Messiah everyday of his life. The Holy Spirit revealed to Him that He would not die before He had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Then one day, he saw Jesus. There must have been so many people at the Temple that day to present their babies, but Simeon was so in tuned to the Holy Spirit that he found Jesus, and when he did, he praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

May we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear the glory of God revealed this Christmas and in all the days to come!

Merry Godspotting, you guys.