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We have officially entered the season of giving. The countdown to Christmas is underway, and many have joined the frenzy to find the perfect gifts for their friends and loved ones.
Many are getting ready to prepare their biggest and best meal of the year. Others are frantic about having the house spotless, the Christmas lights perfectly strung, and the family ready for the round of Christmas parties and holiday events that are as traditional as the season itself.
What often gets neglected during this period of busyness, however, is the very thing we need most: some quiet time to reflect on the gifts of Christmas and to commune with God.
Taking time away from a jam-packed schedule or To-Do List might seem foolish or selfish. In reality, the half hour we pause to pray or give thanks for our blessings, or the time we spend reading Scriptures or a devotional passage, give us a solid foundation upon which to greet the challenges we may face during the day.
When we have filled our spirit with encouraging words or by talking to and hearing from our heavenly Father, we have equipped ourselves to face whatever we may encounter with a greater sense of calmness and faith.
By scheduling more quiet time, we’re subtly letting ourselves know that we matter. We are giving our dreams and desires the space to speak to us.
If we never pause to reflect on who we are and who we want to be, or where we are in our lives and where we want to go, there’s a good chance we’ll never get there.
In our quiet time, we can discover how God desires for us to serve Him. We can assess our likes and dislikes and discover our life’s calling. Armed with this information, we can begin to fulfill our destiny.
The Christmas celebration so quickly flows into the New Year that before we’ve had a chance to consider what we hope to accomplish in the coming months, January 1 has often come and gone.
In the quiet time you carve out, try to spend the few remaining weeks of this year mapping out your plan of action for 2007. What do you want to achieve spiritually? Professionally? In your relationships with friends and family? In your relationship with yourself?
To reach your full potential, to believe that your desires can become your reality, use your quiet time to strengthen your faith. Begin to trust that as a child of God, you are worthy of the best life has to offer and worthy of unconditional love. When you embrace these truths, you’ll be a rose abloom in winter.
The quiet time you have spent in prayer, reflection and meditation will permeate your life. You’ll be a better friend, spouse, parent, employee and person for it.
Your gifts to others of love, wisdom, compassion, servanthood, kindness, and more will overflow at Christmas and throughout the year.
© Copyright, Stacy Hawkins Adams.
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Keeping Silence