The Already and the Not Yet

The week between Christmas and the New Year is one of my favourites! As a pastor, I longed for this week and could hardly wait for the Sabbath that I made this week to be.
This year, I am not a pastor, feel exhausted, and just really long for a day to be alone all by myself with God - the realities of my new life are taking over.
So this morning, as I drove to work all by myself, I had the experience of a short Sabbath, a few moments alone with God where I felt refreshed, encouraged, challenged and a godly humility.
The miracle of the babe that was born in the manger, is a miracle, a miracle that I like to transform me and prepare me fresh and new for each new calendar year. In the midst of everyday, commonness, loneliness, Christ entered our world surrended by animals, I am assuming a stench from those animals, noise, and the first people that came to visit this King were lowly shepherds. Stinky, mangy, awkward shepherds coming and worshipping this newborn King. I am just like those shepherds, I hate to admit it, but I am, and on the way to work this morning, I felt how lowly, how stinky, how awkward I can be - I realized the already of my faith, but the not yet realization of it - while I am here on this earth and I am in relationship with my God, I still struggle, I still sin, I still think wrong thoughts, my motives are often selfish, even if I claim to be selfless - but the not yet will happen when I see him face to face and I am relieved of this world's pain and chains.
So this morning between Lacombe and Tees in a 2002 white mini-van, I was transformed and changed - in humility I once again realized my need for God and for a brief moment, I experienced Sabbath - a peace that is deep and has been continuous for the day. I pray that my quiet time with God each day may be like that. When I got to the office, I opened up my big book of AA and found the third step, "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God." In humility and humbleness, may that be my prayer God - Amen and amen.