While You Were Sleeping

I first heard this song at the Casting Crowns Christmas Concert last year. Jason and I both had a really good time. I have been listening to it a lot and every time I do, I get so pumped up and full of joy. Let me let you read the lyrics and then I'll share my thoughts:


"While You Were Sleeping"
~Casting Crowns~

Oh little town of Bethlehem
Looks like another silent night
Above your deep and dreamless sleep
A giant star lights up the sky
And while you're lying in the dark
There shines an everlasting light
For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today
Oh Bethlehem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

Oh little town of Jerusalem
Looks like another silent night
The Father gave His only Son
The Way, the Truth, the Life had come
But there was no room for Him in the world He came to save

Jerusalem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
The Savior of the world is dying on your cross today
Jerusalem, you will go down in history
As a city with no room for its King
While you were sleeping
While you were sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we're sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we're lying in the dark
There's a shout heard 'cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleeping

United States of America
Looks like another silent night



"For the King has left His throne
And is sleeping in a manger tonight

Oh Bethlehem, what you have missed while you were sleeping
For God became a man
And stepped into your world today"

I get so excited when I sing this verse above!! I feel like I'm at a football game and my team just made the most amazing play and is running for a much needed touchdown! The King has left His throne. Where did He go? He stepped into OUR world, He became a man, like us and is sleeping in a manager. Why did God do this? It is so hard for my mind to comprehend His Love; how deep and how wide. I am left in awe as I sit and ponder about this thought.

Last Sunday at church, we were asked in our Bible study class what we can do to make Christmas more real for us. I thought I'd share what I have been trying to do. I try to imagine Mary right now carrying the Christ. What must she have been feeling as she was traveling and 9 months pregnant? I try to focus on Christ in the womb. Then I listen to this song and can imagine God stepping down from His throne, opening His heart and arms and lavishing us with His presence and giving us the most precious gift of all. Oh my heart aches just thinking of this.

'What you have missed while you were sleeping'... Oh, I can only imagine what I have missed while I was sleeping. I pray God continues to wake me up so I am forever alert and ready to hear Him, see Him and serve Him!

So this Christmas, I am not getting into the 'hustle and bustle' of the 'Christmas Season'. No. This year is a year for me to lavish my thoughts and energy on my King. My God who loved us all so much He stepped into our world to save us. This Christmas I want to focus on the reality of Christ, not just the story. This Christmas I feel called to give God the gift of myself. Anything and everything in my life I want to hand him. My family, my friends, my job, my health, my dreams, my fears, my joys, my anxieties, my time, my thoughts, etc, etc, etc... Will I hold anything back from my King who has given me everything? I know I will, but I long to try to give Him everything. I may have to daily give (and re-give) Him 'my gifts', but that is okay. God can move our hearts and will change our lives.

My God, My King, My Savior,
I give you my life; present, past and future. I give you my all. Forgive me for when I anxiously take back some aspect of my life. May you speak to me through Your Holy Spirit so that I may return to you and rest in your Holy Arms. Thank you for this Christmas Season!

My last thoughts I leave you with today:
'For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the night

America, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay'

As we look back through the Old Testament, we see God's people anxiously awaiting the days their Savior would come to save them. I look around us today. Why do we not anxiously await the day our Savior will come back for us? Why have we lost our zeal and excitement for the day we will meet our King? How can we live life each day anxiously awaiting Christ's return? If we did, I think our days would be grander and the lives we touch would far out number the lives we touch today. May we not be left 'slumbering where we lay'...