It never occurred to me until recently that I have a relationship with time. It’s not just an objective framework we live within. I have feelings about it, expectations around it, and a way of relating to it. The tension I experience in this relationship isn’t just logistical or emotional; it’s also deeply spiritual.
As followers of Jesus, we all eventually wrestle with the mystery of God’s timing—in our lives, in our waiting, and in the world. Claire Dwyer, author of the Advent devotional In Time: Living in the Now and Not Yet, invites us to step into that sacred tension and discover the heart of God in the midst of it.
The title of your devotional is In Time: Living in the Now and Not Yet. Can you share what the central theme is and why it’s especially meaningful during the Advent season?
Claire: We live in this mystery where we have gloriously inherited Heaven through the mystery of our Baptism—”everything I have is yours”—and yet we await its fullness in the valley of tears. Advent is a microcosm of this reality. We enter into the entirety of Salvation History and are reminded, in the waiting and in the fulfillment, of the mystery of our own lives.
What was your experience like writing this devotional? In what ways did the Lord use the theme of time to speak to your own heart and deepen your faith?
Claire: It was a deeply prayerful experience! I was reminded of all the ways that our lives mirror the experience of Israel: birth and death, waiting and running, longing and celebrating, homecoming and diaspora. We live in an in-between place, and we simply can’t reconcile that. I’m a pretty scheduled person. I like life to fit into boxes with labels, but it doesn’t work like that. As I wrote, the Lord invited me to embrace the paradox that is my life and the life of the Church militant.
The weeks before Christmas can feel overwhelming. How can we resist the pressure of the season and create space to truly enter into the sacred waiting of Advent?
Claire: I wish I had a good answer for that. I think the experience of wanting to wait, to be still, to anticipate something in peace and not be able to do that is its own kind of suffering and prayer. We can’t ignore or scorn the anticipatory celebration happening all around us, and we may very much participate in it, even while wishing it were different.
But do we see, then, that is its own kind of longing? Of wanting things to be different?
Sometimes we don’t get to choose our own way of doing things, even holy things. There’s something beautiful about that. Surrender to it. God’s purposes for this season will be fulfilled in your surrender.
How has your understanding of God’s timing evolved over the years? What have you learned about trusting His providence, especially when things don’t unfold the way you expected?
Claire: When you’ve lived a few decades, you learn that God always comes through. You want to rewrite the scene, but the story doesn’t allow for that. It isn’t until the second or third act that you start to realize that things are working together in a plotline that you haven’t written. But you start to get glimpses of a lovely ending, and you decide to start following the script the way it is written.
Is there a particular Scripture, image, or moment from your own life that shaped how you approached the writing of In Time—something that helped you connect more deeply with the theme?
Claire: I think my experience of pregnancy and birth helped me to slow down and see that some things—the best things—cannot be rushed. And yet when it is time, it is time! Nothing can hold life back from bursting forth. I wrote about one of these times in the devotional, and it was fun to tie that experience to Jesus Christ coming into time and imagining how nothing was going to hold Him back.
What is your prayer or hope for the women who will journey through In Time this Advent season?
Claire: I pray that everyone will be able to embrace mystery a little more. To be okay with living in the now and not yet. To see the parallels between Israel, the Church, and their lives. And to enjoy the process of praying through the readings and the reflections with many other women, all at the same time! Communion is a miraculous, healing thing. Allow the prayers of everyone else joining with you to buoy you up to another level of joy.
Beth Davis is a lover of Jesus, a retired youth minister, the Director of Formation for Blessed is She. She is passionate about teaching women how to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus in prayer through writing, speaking, and mentorship. Her favorite things include being the favorite aunt to her five niece and nephews, making friends everywhere she goes, and whatever book she’s currently reading.
Walk with Us this Advent
Get Your Prayerful Planner
