Hope in Dark Times . . . .

This is from an entry that I wrote in my Journey Notes several years ago right before Christmas.  I found it today and was struck by how it continues to be very relevant today.  Here is what I wrote:

Praises:

1. 1. Thank You for the Season of Advent.
   2. For Your Holy Spirit,
   3. Hope found for all in Jesus!

Your Word to me:

‘Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,
the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,
Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people living in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of the shadow of death
a light has dawned.”
 Isaiah 9:1-2

My Response:

What a grand pronouncement of HOPE given to encourage Your people! To imagine that ever-encroaching darkness of our times being overcome by the dawning of YOUR LIGHT for eternity–leaves me breathless!  In a world where You has been deemed “nonessential” by many, I have struggled to express what I see as:

The growing disconnect between You as Creator and
those who need You but do not know You.

This week I was grateful for this insight from biblical scholar, Tremper Longman III, into our spiritual quandary:

“Diversity can be good, but it can also lead to an alienating fragmentation when God is left out of the picture. With our society’s loss of connection to God over the years, we’ve lost an understanding of ourselves as God’s creatures. We are left with the question: Are we the god’s of the universe or are we the sludge?”*

Identifying very much with “the sludge” in these increasingly secularized and godless days, I am struck that this Advent feels very much like the world did more than 2000 years ago. It also was a dark time–when the birth of the Savior was sent to a world largely indifferent to their peril.  Even so, the Creator orchestrated a most unlikely drama where darkness and light collided.  In fact, were it not for the drama of a host of angels announcing the Birth before some shepherds working in the fields, it would have been entirely missed by the world!

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host
appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom His favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” **   

It was the ultimate collision:

• When the birth of Light and Hope took place,
• And the shepherds (considered amongst the social dregs of their culture) were irresistibly drawn from their flocks by a host of angels
• To witness God’s Promise fulfilled in the Birth of His Son . . .❤️

(I like to refer to this as– THE ULTIMATE KA-P0W!)

It is now the ninth of December, with more than two weeks of Advent to go before the “scheduled arrival”of Jesus’s Birth; I am aware that I am moving headlong into the MIRACLE of HIS LOVE AND MERCY more quickly than usual.  Yet I believe that in times such as these, with evil appearing so increasingly pervasive we can draw comfort in remembering God’s Promise fulfilled in the Birth of His Son.

Darkness is not new—nor is evil.  But at the end of all things, we can rest in the assurance that:

• The Light that overcame the darkness surrounding Jesus’ Birth, and
• The Light that drew the shepherds away from their sheep after angels hearkened the advent of His coming,
• Is the same Light that draws us to remember not only the birth of His Coming but to anticipate His Promised Return!

Thank You, God, for sending Your Son into the darkness of this world
for the salvation of all that You created.
Thank You Jesus for entering into the chaos of this place
for the sake of those who would place
their hope and trust
in You.
Thank You Holy Spirit, for shining the Light of Christ
in hearts-made-new despite the darkness,
as we wait for Christ’s Promised Return—
Come, Lord Jesus! Come!

All to His Glory!

*Tremper Longman III, Reading the Bible with the Heart and Mind, NavPress, 1997, Pg 28
**Luke 2:9-15