Advent ~Seven~

“You serve me a six course dinner
    right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
    my cup brims with blessing.”
               Psalm 23:5



Today, in my reading, I caught hold of the words….“I will provide grace for the gaps.”  
I have a lot of gaps in my life.  How about you?  Has everything in your life turned out just the way you always dreamed it would be?  Have you ever asked the question….”Why me?”  

In today’s Advent reading, Ann Voskamp expressed thoughts we sometimes hesitate to say out loud, to give voice to…to share with anyone else.  “I thought it would be easier.”  “I thought it would be different.”  “I thought I would be …more.”

Common to all of us are unmet expectations.  Expectations of ourselves, the people around us… and even God.  For myself, I have found expectations to be joy-robbers.  In all my “wanting” of things to be different, the people around me to act in certain ways, my weight to be a certain number, my bank account to overflow…I miss the provision of my God in the present, in the moment.  I am so focused on getting what I want that I become numb to what I have. 

Grace…He is my Gap-Filler.  He is Provider of all the blessings I didn’t know I needed.  He invites me to come and sit…He’s done all the cooking and preparation…He’s provided everything….He has spared no expense….