Mountains and Mole Hills

Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low.   The winding roads shall be made straight, the rough ways made smooth and the flesh shall see the salvation of God. Luke 3:5-6

My mom was the queen of one liner!  She could always wrap up a situation in one sentence that just left you with no ammunition to argue.  Whenever I would get all wound up about something that really wasn’t much of a big deal she would put her hands on my shoulders, look into my eyes and say “Sheri, don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill!”  That was her way of helping me put things into perspective.  I didn’t always like it but she was always right! 

The season of Advent is all about preparation and this line from Luke’s Gospel inspires me to ask myself two questions. The first, what am I preparing for this Advent? Am I more concerned with preparing for a holiday or the birth of a King? The second question is what does “prepare” really look like? It’s an action-packed verb, isn’t it?

The prophet Isaiah’s words from Luke’s Gospel really answered those two questions for me. We are preparing for the one who will level out the peaks and valleys of our days. We’re preparing for the one who will straighten out all the winding messes our sinfulness gets us into. We’re preparing for the one who will smooth out all of our bumps and bruises with his amazing comfort and peace. We aren’t preparing for a party or a feast; we’re preparing for our salvation.

The great news is this preparation requires the opposite of action-packed frenzy. The preparation needed on our part this Advent is stillness, quietness, and a sincere invitation. God is sending his son to do all the work; our task is to simply pause and await the arrival of the Infant King who will come into our life and do all the things Isaiah promised he would do. Our job is to be still and stop making mountains out of mole hills and accept the gift of level, steady, straight and abounding love of the Father.  God of love, show me how to be still and await patiently the coming of your Son. God of time, I ask you to manage my schedule so I can answer your invitation to spend peaceful time preparing and thanking you for the gift of your Son and the salvation he offers me.

A Seed To Plant:  Spend some time in prayer asking God what places, situations, or circumstances in your life need smoothing, straightening, and leveling?

Blessings on your day!