Prompt:The shepherds and midwife were working when God’s message came. What can we do to stay alert and notice God in our everyday moments?
My first live musical was Beauty and the Beast when I was about eight years old; thus began my love for musicals. One of my top five favorites is Fiddler on the Roof, though I have yet to see it live. The movie rendition ends with this poignant line: “Rabbi, we’ve been waiting for the Messiah all our lives. Wouldn’t now be a good time for him to come?”
The wise rabbi replies, “I guess we’ll have to wait someplace else.”
That line always lingers with me. It captures both the ache and the humor of waiting for something long promised but not yet seen.
Advent is all about waiting. But it’s not a twiddling-the-thumbs kind of waiting. It’s not passive or idle. The shepherds were tending their flocks when the angels appeared. The midwife was likely helping Mary through every contraction and labored breath when the miracle of Jesus’ birth arrived. God’s message woven into ordinary work, ordinary rhythms, ordinary lives.
The call to stay alert didn’t end in Bethlehem. Later, Jesus told His disciples in Gethsemane, “Stay awake and pray so that you will not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). Watchfulness is not just for shepherds under the stars—it is for disciples in every generation.
So how do we stay awake to God’s presence in our everyday lives?
By practicing attentiveness: Advent invites us to look for God in the small, ordinary places: in a child’s laughter, in a shared meal, in the stillness of a winter’s snow.
By waiting with hope: Waiting is not wasted time when it is filled with expectation. As Paul reminds us, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24–25). Our hope is not in what is already visible, but in the Savior who has come and will come again.
By working faithfully: The shepherds didn’t stop tending sheep to wait for God’s message; they were faithful in their daily tasks. God often meets us in the midst of our responsibilities.
By welcoming interruption: The angels’ announcement disrupted the shepherds’ night. God’s presence often comes as a holy interruption, shifting our plans and opening our eyes.
So perhaps the best way to wait is not to look for someplace else, but to stay awake right here—working, loving, worshiping—ready to notice God weaving His presence into our ordinary days.
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