Advent, Thanksgiving and Reflection

By Sarah Lye, PJS2

What is Advent? According to Wikipedia, Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming.

The season of Advent begins four Sundays before Christmas and is observed by some Christians as a time of prayer and fasting. It is the time we should be slowing down our pace in the midst of the hustle and bustle of city life. Simply put, it is an intentional time to unwind, give thanks and take time off to reflect in the midst of our busy schedule. Oh no! How do we do that? Well, we need to really slow down, come away from our busy schedule, sit down and carve out time to do it! We also need to carve out time to prepare our hearts to welcome the coming King! We need to pause and treasure God’s most precious gift – Christ Jesus. The Advent period for this year is from 27 November to 24 December.

Amid the holiday celebrations, Christmas shopping, Christmas lights, decorations and joyful carols, it is challenging to be mindful of Advent. Advent is intended to be a season of fasting, just like Lent.

When we look at our current busy schedule, we tend to be swept away by our mundane activities, week in and week out. We have many appointments to keep and deadlines to be met. However, we need to make the choice to slow down to give thanks to God and to reflect.

How can we do that? 1) We need to take time to slow down. For example, we have to look at our calendar (Nov-Dec) and select pockets of time to do our reflection. 2) We need to be intentional to make time for reflection before the year closes so that we will not be caught by surprise when 2023 commences!

As we come to the closing of the year 2022, it is important that we have a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude. There are so many things to be thankful for! For example, we are thankful that we have God in our lives and we are thankful for our loved ones (spouse/children/siblings/friends/relatives). We are thankful that we have food on the table, a roof over our heads and clothes to wear. We are thankful that we have good health, we are thankful that we can walk, we are thankful that God is good and in control of all situations, we are thankful to God for the installation of the current 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia and the list goes on!

“In everything, give thanks to God for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

Do you know that a thankful heart can save you a lot of heartache? Yes! It is better to have a thankful heart than to have a complaining or grouchy heart. In fact, medical research has shown that when we adopt a heart of thanksgiving, we feel more joyful and happy, and our health will become better. So why not have a thankful heart?

Besides thanksgiving, it is also the time to unwind so that we can do our reflection. We reflect because we want to make sure our lives count and we are achieving God’s purposes in our lives. We are to evaluate which activities we should continue or which activities we should stop doing. When we see or hear of the violence and evil that surrounds us, let us not be disheartened but instead we should adopt a prayerful heart where we can cry out to God for His mercy and help. We trust that God will make things right in His time.

At the same time, we ask God to forgive us of all our sins and help us to be made whole in Christ. We need the regeneration work of the Holy Spirit so that we are transformed into the image of Christlikeness.

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13 NLT)

In a nutshell, as we draw to the end of 2022, it is vital that we take time to pace ourselves, enjoy the beauty of God’s creation, reflect a little bit more, spend a little more time in prayer, listen to Him, converse with Him and be thankful to Almighty God for what He has done the past one year and also give thanks in faith for what is to come for 2023!