Joy to the World--Prepare Him Room

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.

I don't know about you, but some days I just don't want to play pretend with my kids. And some days I don't want to put down my phone and talk to my husband at the end of the long day. And some days (okay, most days) I do not want to get out of bed to exercise. It's so easy to get caught up in the don't wannas and to give up on these really important moments of our day.

For me, half of the battle is preparing for these things. I chop the veggies ahead of time, so when we get home from school I have a few minutes to color with Izzy. As I'm reading stories with my kids at bedtime, I remind myself of how much I enjoy conversations with Herb when we have them. Thus when the kids are in bed, I'm mentally ready to enter into hearing the heart of my husband. When I go to bed at night I have my work out clothes set out with a bottle of water, so that I'm mostly ready to get my sweat on. Being prepared allows me to do, and usually enjoy, these every day things.

So as I sat in church this morning and the Pastor Scott asked, "Are you making space in your day for awe and wonder?" I was convicted. Who has time for awe and wonder? Who has time on a walk with your kids to stop and savor the sunset? (I mean, what if they are careening right off the sidewalk and into the street!?!) Who has time to read words in a book and actually think about them? (I'm reading to know something, not to savor!) Who has time to enjoy the laughter of their child? (I have to capture that adorable giggle on camera!) These things that have been created to evoke wonder and awe, these things that should cause us to pause and delight, these things that are to turn our eyes back toward heaven, are now glossed over in favor of rushing, documenting or amusing ourselves. We don't allow ourselves time to savor, to reflect, to enjoy.

But how are we to truly understand the power and depth and meaning of this powerful season if we do not pause to see the magnificence of this one event in history? How can we see the Hope, the Joy, the Peace that arrived on the scene that glorious night, if we are hustling and bustling about in the Christmas rush? We are going to miss it if we do not prepare Him room.

And just like chopping veggies ahead of time, I need to make a plan to prepare Him room. Space, quiet, time are not going to happen accidentally. The don't wannas are going to creep in quickly, and we are going to forget how much we need the time to marvel. We are in desperate need to see, to truly see, that what God has done is unimaginable. This gift, this precious baby boy, changed the world's trajectory completely. We were charting a course of sin and destruction; no matter how many times we tried to alter course we could not realign our hearts with God's vision. And so Jesus came. He took the helm. In the midst of a tumultuous storm, our bearings completely lost, He righted the ship and turned us back toward home.

Do we get it? Do we understand just how broken we were? How broken we are? Do we even take time to realize the evil and selfishness in our hearts? Do we see how desperate we are to be enough and how terribly short we fall of that standard every single time? If we don't have time to look at our hearts, to evaluate our need for a Savior, we will miss the joy of knowing that the Savior has come. We cannot sing Joy to the World unless we know the joy of being free from our crippling need.

Once we have prepared Him room, once we have paused our crazy existences to gaze upon our fragile and shattered hearts and upon the potter who re-molds the clay into something beautiful, then we are ready to receive our King. If we prepare Him room, if we de-clutter our sitting rooms and open our doors, we will have space to allow the King to come and dwell with us. But we must take action, our hearts must prepare.

So chop those veggies ahead of time (or even make a box of Mac and Cheese!), remember how much you enjoyed being in His presence when last you came, and set out your Bible in a quiet, inviting space, and prepare Him room. It's that important! And you will find that your heart joins with the chorus of Heaven and nature. When you sit at the feet of Jesus, your heart will not be able to help but sing, sing, sing, and repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy, repeat, repeat the sounding joy! Come and prepare your heart for the Savior, stand in awe of your coming King. He will reveal Himself in total splendor. He will come.