Getting Ready for the Promise

 Scripture Reading : Isaiah 51:1-8

Listen to me, you … who seek the Lord: 

look to the rock from which you were cut 

and to the quarry from which you were hewn.

Isaiah 51:1 

Advent begins with God speaking hope into a weary world. In Isaiah 51, the Lord calls His people to listen—to turn their ears away from fear and toward His faithful voice. They are invited to remember the “rock” from which they were hewn, the story that shaped them. Abraham and Sarah stood before God with nothing but His promise, and God brought life out of barrenness. In the same way, our Advent hope is rooted not in our strength but in the God who has proven Himself faithful across generations.

Getting ready for Advent means cultivating the spiritual discipline of remembering. We look back on the quiet mercies that have carried us, the prayers answered in unexpected ways, the sustaining grace that met us in darkness. As Howard Thurman writes, “The particular fact or experience which we are facing at the moment, or the memory of other particular facts or experiences from other moments—these are our openings, these are the doors through which we enter into wider meanings, into wider contexts.” God uses our lived experience—our joys, our struggles, our remembered blessings—to open us to His larger story. “We live deeply in the present only to discover that we are invaded by the Eternal,” Thurman reminds us. This is the quiet heart of Advent: in remembering, we rediscover that God has been with us all along.

Isaiah assures us that God’s comfort is near, His righteousness endures forever, and His salvation will outlast every sorrow and season. As we begin this holy journey, we prepare not by striving but by resting in who God is and recalling what God has done. Advent readiness begins with remembering the Rock from which we were hewn—trusting that the God who carried us before will carry us still, and that His promises shine brightest when our world feels dim.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, 

As we enter this Advent season, help us remember Your faithfulness and see our present moments as openings into Your eternal love. Speak hope into our weary places, steady us with Your comfort, and anchor us in Your everlasting salvation. Prepare our hearts for the promise of Your coming Lord Jesus. Amen.