During Advent we are invited into story, made aware of the reason for the anticipatory watching and waiting. There will be surprises to come, a humble birth to proclaim, gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense to be proffered by kings, now bowing to the King of kings on His bed of straw.
Advent is a golden time, a twilight hour before the main event, a necessary pause in proceedings as we ponder our own part in all of this. Because it cannot leave us cold. We are active participants too.
Not only do we pause, ponder and pray, mull and marvel at the miracle of God become man, we also start to see ourselves as the reason why He came, the purpose for this most Holy of invasions, this gentle leap into earthly territory.
And it may make us wonder what our response should be to the birth of our Lord and Saviour. What can we bring to Him, the One who throws stars into space and rides galaxies?
I believe God came for our hearts, our open devotion and willing surrender to His goodness and grace. I believe He wants us to be captivated by His offering of relationship.
We bring Him our gold, our best. What would that be? I think it’s our brokenness. We bring our messed up lives, our hidden sin, our secret dreams. We bring Him failure and defeat, loss and longing, need and desire. We bring all the broken pieces of our lives like scattered ashes at His feet, ready for Him to bring beauty forth from them.
He tenderly takes, sifts, sorts and remakes us better than before. God isn’t afraid to get His hands dirty with our dust and detritus. He asks us to come as we are, no frills, no excuses, no pretence, no hesitation. Isn’t that the best invitation of all?
I didn’t intend to post today, but I wrote a tiny haiku with these thoughts on my mind. It was in response to a prompt which my lovely writing friend, Gayl Wright, speaks of on her blog. She also shares her own beautiful offering to the prompt of ‘Gold/Sing’ as found on Ronavan Writes – where this inviting poetic haiku challenge originates from.
This is my response:
Bring your offering
Let your gold pieces sing sweet
Laid at Jesus’ feet
I hope you’ll feel tempted to give it a go yourself! 🙂
Poetry Joy 
Reblogged this on Michael Moore's Blog and commented:
Bring it all… beautiful, Joy!
Michael, you are amazingly generous, supportive and encouraging! Thank you, dear friend. x
Love! So much this: “We bring all the broken pieces of our lives like scattered ashes at His feet, ready for Him to bring beauty forth from them.”
Tara, those words spoke to me too as I edited this post before pressing publish. I never stop marvelling at what God does with our pain and brokenness! Thank you for being here, my friend. xo
Dear Joy,
I agree with Tara, and love the same passage that she highlighted! Your haiku is breathtaking, when I consider that Jesus actually wants my broken bits; not only wants them, but would call them gold because He makes beauty out of those ashes. I am so glad that you were taken up by Gayl’s prompting and shared such precious thoughts today. These were perfect readings tonight to encourage my heart, dear friend. Blessings and Hugs across the miles! xoxo
Oh yes and amen to the wonder of this: “Jesus actually wants my broken bits; not only wants them, but would call them gold because He makes beauty out of those ashes.” Bettie, it awes, humbles and delights me in turn to have been given words that have blessed and encouraged your heart. Thank you SO much for all you add to this community. Your thoughts and insights are precious to me. Blessings and hugs sent across the miles to you too, dear friend! xoxo
I, too, was touched by this line, Joy – “We bring all the broken pieces of our lives like scattered ashes at His feet, ready for Him to bring beauty forth from them.” To think that bringing Jesus our brokenness is bringing our gold to Him is such an awesome thought. Like the Little Drummer Boy, I often think I have no gift to bring that’s fit to give a King. Such amazing love that Jesus actually wants our brokenness. As I wrote in my today’s blog post, “The joy in Christmas is all about God stepping into our deepest heartache.” Such incomprehensible love, isn’t it? Thank you for comforting my heart today. Advent blessings to you! Love and hugs!
Trudy, it is a marvel that God should want us to offer Him all our brokenness, wounds and pain. Yet it’s for exactly those things that Jesus came. He suffered and died, rose again to new life to show us The Way to break free from all that holds us captive to earth. I loved your post and am still mulling it over before leaving a comment. Some of your opening lines reminded me of a poem I wrote for my anthology called ‘Coexistence’, which briefly examines the puzzle of joy and grief being side by side together in our lives. And I totally agree with this: “The joy in Christmas is all about God stepping into our deepest heartache.” Amen! Such “incomprehensible love” indeed. If my words have helped to comfort your heart today, then I am so thankful, because you offer the same each time I read your own. Advent blessings and Christmas love and hugs to you, dear friend! May you rest well in the weeks ahead. xox ❤
I just love this! Thank you Joy, it is manna for the soul.
“We bring Him our gold, our best. What would that be? I think it’s our brokenness. We bring our messed up lives, our hidden sin, our secret dreams. We bring Him failure and defeat, loss and longing, need and desire. We bring all the broken pieces of our lives like scattered ashes at His feet, ready for Him to bring beauty forth from them.”
I am resonating with your beautiful sharing and haiku imagery! Blessings my friend ❤
Jenneth, it’s a JOY to see you here, my friend! Thank you for stopping by and for your kind encouragement. I’m so pleased you found something here to bless your soul. ❤