Coming Into View

“The virgin will be pregnant.  She will have a son, and they will name him Immanuel, which means “God is with us.”  Matthew 1:23

My hometown has a Fantasy of Lights display in the park each Christmas Season.  This year there are over one hundred displays created by local businesses, organizations, and families.  Last year, as we walked through and drove through the magical light display, I thought how cool it would be for my family to create a display.  We began to talk about it, and I gave the idea to my brother-in-law who created a plan.  With the creativity of my brother-in-law, my cousin, and lots of ideas from family, our family display was created.  The picture with this blog is our Christmas contribution to the park lights.  It turned out better than I had ever envisioned.

It is an Advent Wreath with the manger in the middle and a star for Jesus being the light of the world.  Beside the wreath is the cross with the words of the candles surrounding the cross.  Each Advent candle has a theme – Hope, peace, joy and love. During Advent (which means the coming or arrival) a candle is lit, and words are shared about the theme of the candle.  Jesus comes into the world to bring hope, peace, joy and love.  Everything you and I need today in our lives.

Hope – “And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.” Romans 5:5

Peace – “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  John 14:27

 Joy – “The joy of the Lord is my strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10

 Love – “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

It took some time for the idea of the display to become a reality – literally the entire year. Finally, it came into view.  When we saw it lit up at night for the first time, it was amazing to see. We needed the darkness to see the beauty of it.  My prayer in the creation was that the display would be a witness to our faith in Jesus.  The Advent Wreath expresses the coming of Jesus as a baby with the cradle in the middle. The cross represents why Jesus came – to be the Savior of the world.  You cannot have the cradle without the cross.  Jesus was born to die for our sins.

 My hope was that it could make a difference.  I was filled with joy when we walked through the lights and stood beside the display.  A mom and her children came up to the display, and she explained to her children what the Advent wreath was and the words represented each candle.  As I listened, God’s love came into view.  I had such a peace that God had a purpose in this display.  I had experienced all the words of Advent – hope, joy, love and peace.

We have an idea of how we desire life or certain situations to be.  We have hope that it will turn out like we desire.  Sometimes it turns out better than expected and other times we struggle to comprehend what happened.  It doesn't make any sense to us.  We have all been there.  Some of you are in the middle of trying to find your life after your world was turned upside down.  It is so cloudy that you can barely see the next step to take.  The darkness seems overwhelming.  Sometimes we need to sit in the darkness of life before we can see God shine His light.

That is, sometimes we need the lights and sounds and distractions of the world to go dim, and we need to be still and just sit in the quiet and allow God to come to us.  God comes into view when we tune out the things that overwhelm and disturb our hope, joy, peace, and love.  It doesn’t mean life will be what you want it to be, but it does mean that God breaks into our darkness with His love.  God comes to us.  God may not change your circumstances, but God will change your heart and your thoughts.  God may still have you walk through the pain and the grief, but God promises to be with you and bring you peace in the midst of it.

As Christmas comes into view for you this year, focus on Jesus.  He is your hope in this broken world and in your heartache.  Jesus wants you to look beyond the broken pieces and see the hope of eternity – the hope that someday it will all come together into this beautiful masterpiece.  Jesus promises to give us his joy – not happiness that you have to create and try to pretend you feel.  It is joy that is deep within you – a sense of contentment that is not based on your circumstances.  This brings the peace of Jesus deep within your heart.

Christmas reminds us that we are loved.  God loves you.  God came down to earth to redeem us because He loves us.  Allow Jesus to come into view this Christmas.  Allow Jesus to break through your hurt and pain, through your dailyness of life, through your humbug attitude, through your tears, through your racing thoughts and bring you his hope, peace, joy and love.

Allow Jesus to come into view!

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              Living In The Different

              Life Lessons of a Lone Trooper

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