Rev. Richard Smith
December 15, 2022
Isaiah 35 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come…he will come to save you.’
During Advent we typically sing Come, O come, Emmanuel. Some of the words of that hymn are:
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
You, of course, know that the word “Emmanuel” comes from two Hebrew words which collectively mean God with us.
The cry of Advent is for God indeed to be with us! We need God’s presence to “cheer our spirits” amidst the trying times in which we live. We need God to “disperse the gloomy clouds of night”. We need God to “put to flight” all the death inducing realities of our world which haunt so much of humanity. We so desperately, as those early Hebrew faithful, seek the assurance of God’s coming into our world and into our lives.
What we must do is open ourselves to seeing and hearing His coming!
We can’t do that if we’re constantly rushing here and there rarely idling our motors! We can’t do that if we’re so constantly focused on self that we don’t commit to focusing on God!
There is no better time than now, during this Advent season, to be more attentive to God’s working; to be more open to God’s voice in your life; to be more discerning of the countless ways He is at work for good!
The bottom line in this most holy season is that we realize we need to be people who see the light while others only see darkness; who believe that good is pervasive, even if seemingly hidden amidst the not so good; who dare to claim that Jesus brings a way of living which can transform us and our world; and who understand that God’s coming is for all God’s children!
