Advent Devotional – Week Four

All Still Within

By: Kristen Struyk

Titus 3:4-6

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

The Japanese word omakase translates literally to “I leave it up to you.” There are restaurants by this name where the chef chooses each customer’s meal! It can feel unnatural not to weigh our options, manage the timing, and choose for ourselves.

The posture of receiving is uncomfortable for many of us. It requires trust, humility, and vulnerability. Advent invites us to turn our attention away from our need to achieve and bravely open our arms wide to receive. Peace grows in us when we learn to trust the kindness and love of the One who is giving.

When peace is hard to come by, I have to choose it with intention and weave it into my daily routine. Early in my counseling work, I developed a “ritual of reception,” whispering the words “all still within” before meeting with clients. This phrase comes from a quote in Harvey Reeves Calkins’s The Victory of Mary Christopher: “It makes me all still within when I think how God has kept His promise when He said, ‘I shall pour you out a blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” After sessions, my “ritual of release” is a quiet prayer: “I will leave it all with Thee,” from a poem by Frances Ridley Havergal.

Being “all still within” and “leaving it all with Thee” can be simple breath-prayers and steady reminders of the peace of God’s presence when life veers off course, when what we receive is not what we ordered, and when we are faced with things we cannot understand. Fortunately, peace has nothing to do with understanding and everything to do with the presence of God. The presence of God-with-us assures us we are beloved, we are safe, and we are not alone.

Prayer

Kind and Loving God, thank you for the peace of being heart to heart with You. We know both the initial unease and the deep joy of leaving things up to You. Let us be “all still within” today as we remember Your presence with us and as we receive one another as friends who bear Your image. Amen.