Corona Devo 1756

I know what time of the year it is.  And I know the season that we are celebrating.  

I know how the traditions and commercials and movies portray people at Christmas: bubbly, joy-filled, surrounded-in-love and crowded with friends and family.  

But there is someone who is alone in this season.  

There is someone who feels neither bubbly nor joyous, and no one is surrounding them.

There is someone that is lonely, empty, and having unhappy holidays. 

God sees us.  God is with us.  

Don't believe me?  Feeling too tired/too lonely/too sad/too mad/too depressed/too lost today?

God sees us.  God is with us.  

God writes out our feelings for us in Psalm 88, to remind us that He sees us and He is with us. 

(1) O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day.  I come to you at night.  

(2) Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry. 

(3) For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. 

(4) I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left.  

(5) They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave.  I am forgotten, cut off from your care.  

(6) You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.  

(7) Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me. 

(8) You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them.  I am in a trap with no way of escape. 

(9) My eyes are blinded by my tears.  Each day I beg for your help, O Lord; I lift my hands to you for mercy.  

(10) Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?  Do the dead rise up and praise you?  (11) Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?  Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?  

(12) Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?  Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness? 

(13) O Lord, I cry out to you. I will keep on pleading day by day.  

(14) O Lord, why do you reject me?  Why do you turn your face from me?  

(15) I have been sick and close to death since my youth.  I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors. 

(16) Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.  Your terrors have paralyzed me.  

(17) They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.  They have engulfed me completely. 

(18) You have taken away my companions and loved ones.  Darkness is my closest friend.  ~Psalm 88:1-18

In a season of twinkling lights and presents and parties, there is someone that sits covered in a heavy darkness, and God's Word speaks light right into it.  Our struggle is acknowledged...even narrated, but light and hope permeate with or without our permission: God sees us.  God is with us.  

This season wears a gaudy and cheap disguise of flashing lights and Santa hats and superficial gifts, but the true origin of Christmas comes to us in raw, naked form: love.

Love came down at Christmas, to find the lonely, the suffering, the desperate and the weary.

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”  ~Matthew 1:23

God sees us.  God is with us.  

He knows what time of the year it is, because He set the date over 2,000 years ago.  

God knows the season that we are celebrating because He ordained the immaculate conception and birth and death and resurrection that sprang into motion in that manger.  

And our Wonderful Counselor knows how the traditions and commercials and movies portray people at Christmas, and He also knows the inner workings and achings of our hearts.  Our Mighty God knows there is someone who is alone in this season.  Our Everlasting Father knows there is someone who feels neither bubbly nor joyous, and that no one is surrounding them.

Our Prince of Peace knows there is someone that is lonely, empty, and having unhappy holidays. 

God sees us.  God is with us.  ...and they shall call His name Emmanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”  ~Matthew 1:23

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  ~Isaiah 9:6

Don't believe me?  Believe Him.  God sees us and God is with us, always.  

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Corona Devo 1156

Image
At work, we provide Trainings for customers, so that they can be updated and educated on all of the latest features (and how to use them) within our product.  Many companies do this--sharing "Best Practices" are a way to ensure positive outcomes on the customer and vendor sides of things. My kids often offer me "life hacks" that they have learned from watching an online video promising to "save time" and "make your life easier".  And just this week, my husband enlightened me about the "tear-away" feature built into most plastic rings holding cans/bottles of pop or Gatorade together.  When separated, the plastic rips open easily, releasing the bottle--saving wildlife that might be caught if it is discarded as trash, and saving me  frustration or angst because I no longer have to pull with all my might to get a bottle out of the plastic rings.  ( Who knew? )  Life hacks do save time and make your life easier! Who couldn't benefit from...
Read more

Corona Devo 1217

Image
The unanswered “why’s” of life, the disorder of our days, and even the unfairness of our struggles can cause us to question ourselves and also to question our God. But the order-of-Creation and the systems that God has set in place are undeniable answers that swing back and forth like God’s pendulum-reminder that He set the world in motion, and He continues to keep order, even when it seems as if we and our world are in dis- order.   Job was a man going through some heavy and hard stuff.   Maybe we are too.   Job’s trials had caused him to question the order of life, and possibly God’s dominion over it.   We can relate.   The “Why’s?” and the “Why Me’s” can stack up in our minds and hearts, but like a parent exercising loving-authority over a child, God reminds Job and us--of His power, omniscience and of His ultimate authority over everything: Creation… and us today .   Then the  Lord  answered Job from the whirlwind: (2) “Who i...
Read more

Corona Devo 991

Running low on " good things " today?  Doesn't it (sometimes) seem like/trend like/read like/tweet like/water-cooler-chat or backyard-fence-visit like/intimidate like/depress like... there are no  good things in the land? . I know. It's no secret that many have abandoned  the Law of the  Lord,  and at times, that's us .   It is evident all around us that people have  followed each other  in this sin.  When we look around...or when we live our days...we can wonder: Are there  any  good things  left in the land? There are still some good things in the land ...and no matter how bleak we feel the "forecast" for today is...there will always  be  some good things in the land, because God is in the land.   T he Bible reminds us of that today.   ~~~ The Israelites (and their king, Rehoboam ) were God's people, but like all of us at times/seasons of our lives...they wandered from Lord and His ways....
Read more