“He will be great and
will be called the Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He
will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no
end.” Luke 1:32-33
It’s the second Sunday in the Advent season. This morning we lit the candle of
preparation.
What are you preparing for...Christmas? And what is Christmas…A
joyful time of celebrating a new birth?
But what if you don’t feel much like celebrating?
Perhaps your time of preparation this Christmas season isn’t
for something as joyful as a new birth.
Maybe you’re preparing for a lay off from your job. Perhaps you’re preparing to face the loss of
someone very close to you who’s ill…a spouse, a sibling, or a child.
Maybe you’re preparing to do battle against
cancer, or depression, or anxiety. Or
perhaps you’re preparing to face the loss of your marriage, and with it, your hopes and dreams
for the future.
This week I find myself reflecting back 29 years when my mother was preparing
us (her family) to continue our lives without her. She knew she was losing the daily battle for
survival against what was then a deadly disease…lymphoma.
Being young, I was shielded from the details, but I imagine
these weren’t preparations she wanted to make that Advent season. She had a husband who loved her and three
children, ages 15, 19, and 22, who she desperately wanted to see grow up into adulthood.
She knew that wasn’t going to happen, so she prepared by
writing each of us a letter that would be given to us after she died. She and Dad planned Christmas that year. We would have Christmas whether she was there
to share in it or not.
On December 10, 1983, she lost her battle, but the plans and
preparations she made for our future continued.
Advent is a time of preparation. The preparation you’re engaged in may not be
pleasant. But Advent is also a time of
hope. A time of finding light in the
darkness.
I pray that all of you reading this today will find a ray of hope in
your time of preparation this year.
God bless!
“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found
favor with God. And behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.’ “He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. And the Lord God will
give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of
Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:30-33
(ESV)
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