Advent Reflections {3}

The Thrill

 

A thrill of hope
The weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks
A new and glorious morn

One of my favorite parts of Advent is the sense of something building.  After all the waiting and the silence, after the weariness and the dark and the need…finally, there’s a glimpse of dawn.  The long-awaited Deliverer is about to walk on the scene.

God's Story is so powerful; it pulls us in as participants in this living narrative and not mere spectators.

Do you know what it's like to wait, achingly weary and aware of your need for hope?  Yes?

Well then, feel the thrill as Christmas approaches, as we remember the turning point in this Story.  That tiny baby Jesus is the hinge of human history.  Everything God had been revealing, everything God had been promising His people was wrapped up in that life Mary carried inside her.

In your own life right now, no matter what you are facing, no matter what you are carrying, there is hope for your weary soul, like the tiniest glimmer of light as dawn comes, like the spark that lights a fire.  Enter into the expectation.  When He comes, everything changes.  When He comes, there is new life.  When He comes, there is hope and redemption and purpose.

So let's rejoice.  Let's sing and cheer and nod amen to what He's done.  This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.