Advent: Week Two

There are two candles lit now in our windowsill. One for Hope. One for Love.

They sit there in front of the glass, gazing inwards, looking outwards. I like to think they stand tall on that white wood, as a reminder to someone else. Though in reality, it is likely that the only other living being who sees them is our neighbor's dog.

We are like candles this season, too. Vessels for a flame, shining a light we didn't create. We are looking inwards, backwards, outwards, upwards. We wait for someone to come light our hearts.

To quote one of our VBS songs, "I can't help but feel a little down; a little worried when I look around, but my hope is in, my hope is in the Lord."

It's true. The weight of the world is absolutely crushing. I could list pages and pages of people and events that make me feel out of control. Intense sorrow. The vast ocean of needs can cover my lungs and make me feel like I'm drowning. I'm more than a little worried, if I'm honest. I feel desperation.

When I was younger I used to be kind of excited about Jesus coming back. But not really. There was so much I wanted to do! I wanted to live! I wanted to have experiences!

And now?

It's not that I don't have things I want to do or enjoy. But my heart has been cracked open by love and the darkness in the world can astound me. It can flood in and threaten to overpower, and the need for healing love surpasses every other desire.



I imagine that when Jesus comes back it will feel something along the lines of the feeling I get when Seth walks through the door after an exhausting day at home with three sick, exhausted, whiny children. Magnified and amplified, of course. But I imagine feeling acute relief! Relief that he is there! He will make things right! He is in control! And good! And fair! And just! And he knows us! All of us! And he loves us! And we can trust him! And after the relief will come wonder and awe, and I'm sure all manner of emotions that I can't even imagine.

I often forget that those sighs of relief, those burdens being lifted, that love and that hope and that trust, they are realities for us now. Those things are still true! Right now! How easy it is to be crushed by the weight of the world, the dismal future we can see with our squinty eyes. How simple it is to shake our heads at the sight of things, the hugeness of it all. The sick and the hurting and the abused and the neglected and the proud and the haughty and the cruel.

How easy it is to forget that there is a loving Father actively working in ways that we do not see and cannot anticipate. How often I cannot remember that God can take a really bad thing and make it a really good thing. How many times do I need to light a candle to realize that our hope is in the Lord? In this Already/Not-Yet Kingdom, Jesus is at work, "making all the sad things come untrue."




"Eve, it's Mary. Now I'm a mother, too.
This child I carry, a promise coming true.
This baby comes to save us from our sin.

He comes to make his blessings flow
As far and wide as the curse is found.
He comes to make his blessings flow.
Almost. Not Yet. Already."

--from Mary Consoles Eve by Rain for Roots

It is because of this hope, this love that we are active. That we are the hands and feet of Christ. He motivates us--and many others--to care for the sick and needy and hurting and abused. He strengthens us for our daily task of dying to ourselves. As part of God's family, "Our lives are not our own to do with as we please."

If you, like me, feel overwhelmed with the vast brokenness of the world, I'll give you these words of Andy Stanley that have often given me a starting point, "Do for one what you wish you could do for everyone." 

My heart is filled every Sunday with the music that our worship team plans. This song, Our God and Our King, has been on repeat in our house this past week. I hope it encourages you as well.

Our God is the author the first and the last
His works they resound through generations past
From creation, to the Savior, to the world we now see
Our God is sovereign in the power He keeps
Our God is the healer who will never change
Defender of the weak and a shield for the saved
And He binds up the broken and raises the dead
Well, if our God is for us then who can be against

Our God will forever and ever be praised
One million days our lips sing His name
And when we have finished will start in again
For our love will go on and on like His

Hallelujah, we exalt You
Hallelujah, we exalt You

His love we will never be separated from
Neither angel or demon or nothing above
Neither principalities or a government of man
Will be able to remove the provision in His hands

His word it goes forth unhindered, untamed
He calls out the sons and daughters by name
And on White stone a new name will be writ
To recall the grace shown and to never forget

When Jesus returns on a white horse He rides
His eyes are ablaze with the justice to rise
Faithful and True are what He is called
To His word, like a sword, all the nations will fall

So praise Him, oh praise Him, let all the saints rise
And claim the redemption for which He was crucified
Chimes of freedom eternal will ring
For He'll reign supreme our God and Our King


This week I've been reading Isaiah 11 and These Poems.