THANKFUL FOR ADVENT

I believe deeply that God does His best work in our lives during times of great heartbreak and loss, and I believe that much of that rich work is done by the hands of people who love us, who dive into the wreckage with us and show us who God is, over and over and over. There are years when the Christmas spirit is hard to come by, and it’s in those seasons when I’m so thankful for Advent. Consider it a less flashy but still very beautiful way of being present to this season. Give up for a while your false and failing attempts at merriment, and thank God for thin places, and for Advent, for a season that understands longing and loneliness and long nights. Let yourself fall open to Advent, to anticipation, to the belief that what is empty will be filled, what is broken will be repaired, and what is lost can always be found, no matter how many times it’s been lost. 

-- Shauna Niequist in “Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way”

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THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH OF GOD’S WILL

Ultimately, hardship and suffering, evil and sin, will not have the final word… Isaiah 51:11 captures this well when God promises the Jewish exiles living in Babylon, who had absolutely no human reason to hope for a return to Zion, “The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.” To those who had no hope, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

We may not always live to see this hope fulfilled. The Jews were in exile for fifty years in Babylon, but they died with the hope that their descendants would return to Zion -- and they did!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. concluded his final sermon, preached on the night before he was shot to death in Memphis, Tennessee, by drawing upon the biblical picture of Moses, standing on the mountaintop looking over the promised land just before his own death. King told his audience that he had been to the mountaintop. He, like Moses, had seen the promised land -- for King that was a land of freedom and equality for all people. But then King, in a prescient moment, told his audience that he might not enter the promised land with them. But he was not afraid. He was, in fact, happy because, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!” That’s what faith in the God who will ultimately triumph looks like!  

-- Adam Hamilton in “Why?: Making Sense of God’s Will”

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TRUST IN THE LORD

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”  (Proverbs 3:5,6 NRSV)

Many times in your past, you thought you could do life on your own. You often relied on your own strength instead of on God’s. Know that God wants to help you get through the hardships of today and every day. Trust the only One who gives you renewed strength for the journey. 

-- Missy Buchanan in “Spirit Boosters for the Journey of Aging: 366 Devotions”


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OUR FAITHFUL COMPANION

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.’”  (Matthew 16:24 NIV)

Reality is hard, it’s messy, it takes us unawares, and it happens to be precisely where we live. The point of this pilgrim path is to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus, right in the middle of routine stuff -- good, bad, and ugly.

Jesus didn’t promise to make anything easy, but He does promise to be our faithful companion along the way.

-- Derek Maul in “The Unmaking of a Part-Time Christian”

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EXERCISING PATIENCE

“I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.”  (1 Timothy 1:16)

We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet there is a patience that I believe to be harder -- the patience that can ruin. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength. But I know of something that implies a strength greater still. It is the power to work under stress, to continue under hardship, to have anguish in your spirit and still perform daily tasks. This is a Christ-like thing. The hardest thing is that most of us are called to exercise patience, not in the sick bed, but in the street.

-- George Matheson, quoted by Joni Eareckson Tada in “Glorious Intruder”

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A PRAYER FOR VETERANS

Dear Lord, today we honor our veterans, worthy men and women who gave their best when they were called upon to serve and protect their country. We pray that you will bless them, Lord, for their unselfish service in the continual struggle to preserve our freedoms, our safety, and our country’s heritage, for all of us. Bless them abundantly for the hardships they faced, for the sacrifices they made for their many different contributions to America’s victories over tyranny and oppression. We respect them, we thank them, we honor them, we are proud of them, and we pray that you will watch over these special people and bless them with peace and happiness. In Jesus’ name we pray; Amen.

-- Joanna Fuchs


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