The Advent (Guest Post)

This year, eQuipping for eMinistry is hosting a Cru blogger on each of the Sundays of Advent. Thank you for following along with this Advent series and for encouraging (and following) Cru staff on their blogs. Stephanie Reeves opens our Advent series. (All posts in the series are listed at the end of this post.)

Sometimes I feel like what I have to say isn’t something anyone wants to hear, so I stop talking. Discouragement comes easily as I look at my blog, try to teach my 6th grade students or talk to my children and wonder if my words mean anything to anybody. The thought runs through my head, “Is anybody out there?”

For 400 years, the people of Israel thought God was silent. There had been no prophets speaking His words. Thing was, though they couldn’t—or wouldn’t—hear Him, He was still at work. The stage was being set for the ultimate Word that would be shared with the world.

If you’re like me, when you’re reading your Bible, you skip over all those names in the genealogies, but they represent the behind-the-scenes work that was being done in preparation for the Word becoming flesh. Adam to David to Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Word of God who came and dwelt among us.

When I’m silent, it doesn’t mean I have nothing to say, it means that I’m not taking the time to think and listen and write. Most of the time when I’m silent, it means I’m too busy, or I’m not engaged with what needs to be heard.

When God is silent, it’s like the darkness before the dawn. There is movement, we just can’t see it. Or maybe we could if we studied the sky in the east. Maybe the problem is we’re just not looking in the right place. We’re not quiet enough to hear.

Stop. Listen. Do you hear the sounds of His coming?

He’s coming.

NOTE: This post is adapted from Stephanie’s original post, The Advent.

Guest Post by Stephanie Reeves

I have been on staff for 31 years, most of it with Worldwide Challenge as a writer, editor, production manager and copy editor. I am married to JESUS Film Project staff member David Reeves and have three children. Writing, helping others communicate better and mentoring 20-something women are my ministry passions! I’m also an avid Mac user and can’t survive without my Macbook Pro, iPad and iPhone. You can find me on Instagram and Twitter as stephcreeves, on Facebook as Stephanie Allan Reeves and read my blog, Compelled, at http://www.stephreeves.wordpress.com.